Subsidence Advisory NSW Still Not Willing to Meet With Us – 4 Months and waiting….

Its now been nearly 4 months since the request to Subsidence Advisory NSW to meet with us.

We have requested;

– information about the mines beneath our properties and on Maitland Road
Subsidence Advisory NSW outcome = told us to contact NSW Resource Regulator to request the information

– information on the work they have done together with other government agencies in reference to our properties
Subsidence Advisory NSW outcome = continue to keep silent

– request to meet with senior Subsidence Advisory manager
Subsidence Advisory NSW outcome = after many months of chasing, their last response is “We acknowledge your request for a meeting on site however we are unable to facilitate a meeting at this stage of the claim”

We are really frustrated by Subsidence Advisory’s response and lack of support. Our various problems have existed for over 14 years and, as time passes, the problems have become significantly worse. Subsidence Authority has visited us in 2012, 2015 and 2019, however only the 2019 is registered in Subsidence Advisory internal notes.

Below is part of a long email we have sent to Subsidence Advisory NSW;

During your on-site visits, I was told that mine subsidence is not covered on our properties and I should look for help through Legacy Mines. Because of this, we have constantly been handling/paying for various repairs to the buildings. However recently, I have been advised that Subsidence Authority should have been handling the subsidence damage – it’s a another reason why I have asked to meet with a senior manager to understand clearly about our situation.

Over these last months, I have asked support from Subsidence Advisory to meet with me, and, to help provide information whether other government agencies have contacted with you to help with our situation, and/or, to solve their own subsidence damage. For both requests, you have ignored to answer me – so again I am asking if there is a reason why you do not want to help and reply to these requests.

Subsidence Advisory is fully away of our situation as you have personally inspected our serious problems 3 times. Initially, our 38 Maitland Road Mayfield workshop and warehouse was damaged, and is now completely unusable – the integrity of the building is in question. Subsidence damage is found across 42 and 44 Maitland Road and we are in such a damaged position in our business, that most of our staff have resigned. Our sales/retail business is almost completely destroyed and by continually delaying us, avoiding to answer our questions, or sending us to websites/departments that you know cannot help us, is compounding further losses on our side.

Please therefore write to us and let me know clearly about Subsidence Authority’s position on our situation, whether government agencies have been in touch to work with you on our situation, and whether we can meet together with senior manager to discuss our problems.

I have also followed your guidance and filled in the Subsidence Claim form. Please find enclosed photos of subsidence evidence at 38 Maitland Road that directly correlates to photos taken by Subsidence Authority in 2019, as well as evidence at 42 and 44 Maitland Road. We have more information and should be able to recheck with builders/repairers for repairs over these years. Since subsidence events are constant, and one team members is solely focused on handling daily repairs due to the mine problems.

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Subsidence Advisory NSW said they have no records of any mine subsidence claims or issues with our properties. They asked us to relodge the claims online, where we found their website lodgement faulty, so then we have manually lodged new subsidence claims. During their visit in 2019, Subsidence Advisory officers in their internal office documents said “no damage to the buildings consistent with mine subsidence was observed or reported.”