Rumours of a sinkhole forming in the carpark behind Foster’s Foodworks began circulating online in the community in early July, prompting Zavier Evans to investigate the site himself.
To his amazement, Evans described watching the ground give way in real time. "A 50 cent sized hole grew to a metre square right in front of my eyes," he said. Peering into the opening, he estimated a chasm of roughly three cubic metres stretching towards the Exchange Hotel, and immediately rang authorities to report a possible impending disaster.
Frustrated by the Victoria Police control centre's insistence on an exact street address, despite offering location details he believed any local police officer would recognise, Evans dragged some dumped shelving over the hole for safety before heading to the Foster police station and knocking until he raised a response. Council inspectors arrived some time later, and works to address the hole were carried out the following day.
Council told this newspaper it was "made aware of the issue on the morning of Thursday 2 July and promptly sent out a crew to inspect the issue." The area was barricaded, and a crew returned on Friday 3 July "with the appropriate machinery to pump out the water and fix the hole." Council thanked the community for reporting the issue promptly.
The response has not settled some people’s concerns over the size of the depression, which formed at the bottom of Hayes Walk near the Foster Flora Reserve, a corridor with deep roots in the town's gold-mining history.
One local resident who wished to remain anonymous told the Prom Coast News, “Any building comes with lots of engineering requirements, much more than anywhere else. So we all know we’re on borrowed time before another one [sink hole] opens up”.
Mark Daldy, proprietor of the The Exchange Hotel was less concerned though. “I think it’s disaster averted”, he said.
“Much to our relief, the pub wasn’t swallowed up and we’d like to thank the Shire for saving the hotel from imminent disaster. That being said, we should always keep a look out given the town’s history.”
Evans recalled mining folklore looming large in his childhood, including warnings to avoid old shafts around Cement and New Zealand Hill, some barely covered by sheets of tin.
The incident follows a significant sinkhole at the Parks Victoria depot roughly a decade ago, and more extensive shoring works than originally planned during the Foster Streetscape project, including in a carpark once prone to flooding Main Street shops. David Barrett
