Family lose their entire backyard after neighbour’s building project knocks out their retaining wall – and three years later there’s still no fix coming
- Family have been left without a backyard after a retaining wall collapsed
- A building project cut into the bordering slope of townhouses causing landslide
- Emma and Matt Paul, from Terrigal, have been without a backyard for three years
A family-of-four have been left without a backyard for three years after a retaining wall collapsed during a neighbour’s building project.
Emma and Matt Paul, from Terrigal, south of Sydney, recalled the moment half of their backyard and its fence vanished in front of their eyes.
‘I realised our fountain and frangipani [tree] had disappeared somewhere,’ Ms Paul told A Current Affair.
A family-of-four have been left without a backyard for three years after a retaining wall collapsed during a neighbour’s building project
Builders working on a project below cut into the bordering slope of the townhouses to build a retaining wall and driveway but instead caused a landslide.
The Paul family at property number five lost their frangipani tree, while a pool at townhouse number six was destroyed.
Eli, at townhouse number four, said one of her children has been without a backyard for most of her life.
The Paul’s are concerned about the current safety of their backyard and admitted they wouldn’t let their two children play near the damage.
The husband and wife say they’ve had no luck in getting their backyard fixed – despite contacting their insurer at the time, Tokio Marine, the local council and NSW Fair Trading.
Emma and Matt Paul, from Terrigal, south of Sydney, recalled the moment half of their backyard and its fence vanished in front of their eyes
The builder reportedly sent an email to the property owners following the collapse, claiming they’d fix their destroyed backyards.
Tokio Marine said an outside contractor was hired for the excavation and that it was not covered by them.
‘We keep getting referred to someone else, you talk to someone else and they keep referring you back to where you came from,’ said Mr Paul.
The young married couple said they did hear from the Central Coast Council but were met with a hefty threat, as the collapse led to a broken sewer tank.
‘I realised our fountain and frangipani had disappeared somewhere,’ Ms Paul told A Current Affair
The council said they would be fined if they did not fix the tank forcing the couple to spend ‘thousands of dollars’ for it to be cleaned and for parts to be replaced.
They looked into getting their backyard wall fixed themselves but quotes in excess of $200,000 were too expensive for them to afford.
‘We are house proud, we love our house, and we’ve had that taken away from us because they were trying to make money next door,’ Ms Paul said.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Tokio Marine and the Central Coast Council for comment.