Fogo Street residents at Wallsend in Newcastle in NSW's Hunter region have had utilities isolated after a sinkhole opened Saturday morning, damaging a roughly 100-square-metre area of the neighbourhood outside the Wallsend Diggers Bowling Club, sinking at a rate of eight-millimetres in 90 minutes.
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Police established a 200-metre exclusion zone soon after emergency services were called to the scene around 9.45am, and said the road has been gradually crumbling and become unsuitable for vehicles in subsequent hours.
Hunter Water has provided bottled water for residents who have had power, water and gas utilities isolated for the past several hours. A spokesperson for the water utility was complying with emergency services' directives and were unable to estimate when the lines would be turned back on.
The state's Fire Brigade dispatched four engines to the scene Saturday morning, joining Police, City council and Mines Subsidence authorities monitoring the situation as it develops.
At around 2.15pm, a Fire & Rescue NSW spokesperson said the issue was ongoing, and that the ground was continuing to sink gradually.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The Diggers club on Fogo Street has been closed until further notice, reporting structural ground issues on and around the greens in a statement released via its social media channels.
The details of this report are developing. It will be updated.
Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
