A group of neighbours have found themselves caught in a frustrating stalemate between their local council and a nearby golf course, with both sides refusing to take responsibility for managing the huge amount of water and sand runoff which regularly spills from the course.
The overflow, triggered by heavy rain, frequently floods the residents’ yards — sometimes piling as high as a metre off the ground and making it difficult for the locals, from Bondi in Sydney’s east, to even exit their back doors.
Homeowner Jeff is one of these residents who has been forced to clean up the overflow himself. He said the nine-hole golf course, which sits on council-owned land on a hill overlooking the famous Bondi strip, “comes through the rocks like a waterfall” into the yard of his unit complex after heavy rain.
“We have to shovel it out,” Jeff told A Current Affair. “It’s eroded the path, so now the water is just running straight into the path on the golf course … the path takes it straight to our back door.”
Another local, Jeanette, who has lived in the same apartment block for decades, said she is “lucky to get out the door” after it pours. “If there’s any drop of water there’s just mud everywhere,” she said.
“I can’t get into my laundry, we can’t hang clothes up, we can’t have anybody over.”
Jeff said the issue has become a hot potato between council, the golf course and residents of the apartment complex. Source: ACA
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The pair say the issue has only emerged in recent years . They believe it’s been caused by rain slowly eroding the path on the golf course to create a funnel to their doors. “It was beautiful here. It was absolutely perfect and then a couple of years ago, things changed,” Jeanette said.
Jeff said council referred his complaints to the golf course, and the course refers him back to council, entrapping him in a seemingly never-ending loop. Jeanette said she feels like “nobody cares”.
“No one’s come to help us, absolutely no one’s come to help us and [they] don’t seem to care,” she said. “I think if they came down and actually had a look at it, they might realise how bad it is.”
According to the Waverley spokesperson, council has now stepped in to mediate the issue.
Residents of the apartment complex claim the sand sometimes piles up to a metre high. Source: ACA
“The cause of the flooding is overland water flow. Property owners are responsible for managing water flow where it crosses their land, however Waverley Council has stepped in to assist residents with the issue,” the spokesperson told ACA.
“Council unanimously approved the construction of a swale which was supported by residents as the most effective long-term solution, allocating $80,000 for the project, with works scheduled for completion in early 2025.
“In the meantime, Council has urgently explored interim measures to mitigate impacts and has already installed a sandbag swale in the golf course diverting potential flood water to the coastline.”
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