The state’s housing and water minister has apologised to Kirribilli residents who spent four weeks living beside raw sewage that ran down their street and into Sydney Harbour.

Rose Jackson was asked about the spill at a NSW budget estimates hearing on Wednesday by Liberal MLC Chris Rath, who said residents had been “bounced” between council, Sydney Water and the community housing provider with nobody taking responsibility.

“I am sorry to the residents,” Ms Jackson said. “I mean, no one wants to have to put up with that.”

The sewage poured from Greenway, a social housing complex on lower Broughton Street that houses more than 500 people, into the gutter, across the road and into stormwater drains that empty into the harbour. A convenience store used by school children sits opposite.

“For the last three to four weeks we have had raw sewage, toilet paper, wipes, absorbent material and incontinence material coming out onto the street on lower Broughton Street,” Kirribilli Precinct chair Michael Bracka told Mosman Collective.

“It has been flowing out and basically going down the gutters into stormwater, which then ends up in the harbour, and also running down MacDougall Street where all the jacarandas are.”

“The stench has been unbelievable,” he said.

Mr Bracka lives on Broughton Street and wrote to Ms Jackson on Tuesday, copying North Sydney Mayor Zoe Baker.

A 70-year-old pipe

Sydney Water told Mosman Collective the fault was not in its network but in a private wastewater pipe at Greenway, and that a 70-year-old sewer had collapsed.

“We understand the frustration from residents who have had to put up with this,” a spokesperson said. “No one wants raw sewage outside their home, and people rightly expect issues like this to be resolved quickly.”

Mosman Collective understands that North Sydney Council was notified of the fault on 13 July. Sydney Water attended the site on 31 July and again on 3 August, informing council and the EPA both times, and on 4 August formally handed the environmental incident to council as the regulatory authority.

Waiting on a road closure

St George Community Housing, which manages Greenway for the state housing department, said it had been working on the leak since Sydney Water notified it on 31 July.

“It has taken a few weeks for the various teams and tradespeople to work out the cause of the problem as the discharge was intermittent,” a spokesperson said.

“There have been many steps to identify the issue then get the required Council approvals to close the street and repair,” the spokesperson said. “But it is now almost complete, and we are keeping our residents informed.”

Ms Jackson told estimates the same thing, that the housing provider had accepted it must fix the pipe but had waited weeks on council to approve the road closure.

“Council has to give approval, but that has now happened,” she said.

The pipe was found last Friday. Sydney Water expected the repair finished on Wednesday, St George said midday Thursday.

The watchdog is investigating

The NSW Environment Protection Authority told Mosman Collective it was investigating “incidents involving the discharge of sewage from a social housing property” and had run multiple site inspections, including after a reported incident on 18 August.

“Our investigation is ongoing, and we are continuing to monitor the site with assistance from North Sydney Council,” a spokesperson said.

The EPA asks anyone who sees a pollution incident to report it to its Environment Line at [email protected].

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