Mascot Towers to sue neighbour
The owners of Sydney’s Mascot Towers have voted to sue the developer of a neighbouring building.
Mascot Tower residents claim their neighbouring building has been responsible for causing the cracks which forced them to evacuate their homes last June.
The owners corporation has issued a statement saying the cracks appeared after excavation work at the neighbouring property.
“That is not a coincidence,” the statement read.
“The soil that supported Mascot Towers was removed by those constructing the Peak Towers basement, meaning that the Mascot Towers building loads could no longer be fully supported.”
The group claims it can demonstrate that Aland’s shoring system at Peak Towers was “under-designed”, with “incorrectly built” piles and that “waterproofing was missing or wholly insufficient”.
The owners corporation says its tests have revealed a “loss of soil” under the complex's north-east corner “near the boundary” of the Peak Towers development.
“Aland has always denied responsibility and earlier refused to provide Mascot Towers' engineers with access inspect the Peak Towers basement,” the statement read.
Experts say Mascot Towers requires about $32 million for rectification works and $21.5 million on a 15-year loan, or about $400,000 for each owner of the 132 units.