Manyana homeowners become anxious every time it rains. 

Julie and Peter Bonsall are worried more damage is going to be done to their backyard, which was affected by a landslip in August 2015. 

Their Sunset Strip home is next to a 400 square-metre landslip, which washed away their neighbour’s entire backyard. 

Mrs Bonsall said she was worried more damage would be done to her property in heavy rainfall.

“Every time it rains we stand and watch,” she said.

“We are worried that more damage is going to be done not only to ours but to other properties on the headland. 

“We are living in fear every time it rains.”

Frustrated at the lack of remediation on the landslip, Mrs Bonsall called on Shoalhaven City Council to take action. 

She said council should “take responsibility” and remediate the problem on its land. 

Council’s senior planner Warwick Papworth said a geotechnical engineer advised no remediation work was required on its land. 

“Due to a report submitted by the neighbours, we have agreed to have our geotechnical engineer reassess the situation and provide us with advice,” he said. 

Mr Papworth said he met the geotechical engineer at Manyana on August 8 to review the council land affected by the natural disaster.

“[We were there] to review the geotechnical engineer’s previous comments that indicated there was no need to carry out remediation work on council land and to see if their may be some minor works necessary following the remediation of [private land],” he said

Mrs Bonsall’s neighbour has begun work to fix their property. 

The plans on council’s website show a three-metre gabion wall, stepped up the hill, with rock backfill and steel wire mesh filling the hole between the wall and the house.

“There are stormwater issues along the hillside and by stabilising their [council’s] land, it would allow us to move on and stabilise ours,” Mrs Bonsall said. 

“It doesn’t make sense that they would ask our neighbours to remediate half way up the embankment, because it leaves everyone else at risk. 

“As it stands, we are not able to successfully stabilise our land with the best solutions until council has stabilised theirs.”

Mrs Bonsall said it had been an “incredibly anxious” two years. 

“This could have been handled much better,” she said. 

“Our grandchidlren can’t play in our backyard anymore - that has been ongoing for two years.”

Council’s position on the landslip is that “the cause of the landslip was the high intensity rain that fell during the event, the investigation and design of remediation works on private land is the landholders responsibility, that landholders of affected properties should be taking temporary measures until remediation works can be carried out and that the priority for public expenditure is to protect public safety”.