A game of pass-the-parcel between differing government and private agencies for responsibility of a North Sydney sewage leak has finally ended.

What happened: On Tuesday, the Lorikeet reported on raw sewage running through Broughton Street, Kirribilli. Locals claimed the issue had been ongoing for four weeks. 

They had attempted to contact every agency that could be responsible: North Sydney Council, Sydney Water and St George Community Housing (SGCH), who manage Greenway, the social housing estate from which sewage was flowing.

Finally, they sent a letter to Rose Jackson — the NSW Minister responsible for both water and housing — pleading for action. 

On Thursday, August 20, the streets were finally free of sewage. So why did it take so long to fix? 

Who’s fault: We reached out to Rose Jackson for comment on the sewage, who directed our request to Sydney Water. Sydney Water said the issue was not its responsibility. 

The company chalked the issue up to the collapse of a 70-year-old sewer pipe within Greenway, and claimed SGCH had established “temporary measures” to manage overflow.

When asked for its side of the story, a spokesperson for SGCH said it had been working on a fix since July 31. 

“The discharge was intermittent and so it was difficult to locate the source”, it said. Once the issue was uncovered, the housing manager needed permission from North Sydney Council to close Broughton Street and carry out repair works.

Rose Jackson was briefly questioned about the incident in Parliament on Wednesday. The Water Minister said she understood issues “bouncing around between departments” was frustrating for residents. 

“No one wants raw sewerage on their street”.