Business owners fear a disturbed underground spring is impacting the foundations of buildings in Chiltern.
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The owners of The Black Dog Antiques and the adjacent Chiltern IGA have both reached out to Indigo Council through their solicitors about the issue.
On Monday, The Border Mail observed saturated concrete at Martins Lane and along the buildings, with some parts bubbling when pressure was applied.
Leigh Shannon, who has owned The Black Dog for 37 years, said the issue arose after works to Martin Lane.
“I think a spring has been impacted – it started about two months after the lane was finished and it has been gradually getting worse – now the gutter is running with water 24/7,” he said.
“I noticed water coming up in the concrete inside and out the front of our shop.”
In the IGA, a section of concrete flooring has sunken a couple centimetres.
“They haven’t told us what they’re going to do, and we need a solution,” manager Jit Singh said.
A wall in Mr Shannon’s building has also moved.
“I wouldn’t want to know what’s underneath my shop at the moment,” he said.
“The so-called heritage town is sinking and nothing is being done about it.”
A North East Water spokesman said they became aware of the issue in August.
“We believe another party dug a hole to enable the installation of signage during street-scaping work,” he said.
The spokesman said North East Water had tested the water and found it was unlikely it originated from any pipes carrying the town’s water supply.
“Whilst investigations continue, we believe the source of this water is most likely to be from a groundwater spring that had been disrupted during the original post-hole digging activity,” he said.
An Indigo Council spokeswoman confirmed council staff were investigating the issue.
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“Council has engaged an expert consultant to investigate potential sources such as the water reticulation system and the ground water,” she said.
“Last week council staff and the consultant met with affected retailers to gather information on this complex issue.”
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