Flooding in new Wauchope community housing leaves tenants in 'very stressful' situation

The couple woke up on Friday March 24 at 4am to find their Wauchope apartment had flooded for the third time that week.

Warm, yellow sewage covered their floors, damaged their sound system and other property.

The couple had to move their drenched guide dogs onto the couch to help get them away from the water.

The couple are both legally blind however Mrs Mahr does have minor visibility.

"It was disgusting," Mrs Mahr said.

"I was messaging all the support workers because maintenance weren't doing anything.

I was trying to explain that we're blind...we don't know what we're walking through."

Support workers were unable to visit the couple while their home was flooded as sewage poses a health and safety risk for workers.

The house had flooded on Monday and Wednesday earlier that week with the couple reporting the instances to maintenance.

The 12 unit social housing apartments were officially opened in January after being built through the NSW Government's Future Directions of Social Housing in NSW program.

Community Housing Limited were handed the units in December 2022 and have been managing the site.

The Mahrs moved in February and were looking forward to starting new.

"We were so thrilled that something finally came up that was accessible because I'm a part time wheelchair user," Mrs Mahr said.

"We literally were almost about to come homeless and now this has all happened."

"Things were going to be easier but at the moment, it's just been more of a challenge," Mr Mahr said.

The couple vacated the apartment on Friday March 24 while works were completed to fix the problem.

Community Housing Limited offered temporary accommodation however the amount of stairs at the proposed property made it an inaccessible option for Mrs Mahr.

There were no other accessible properties for the couple to stay in temporarily that were close to their support workers or Mr Mahr's work in Wauchope and the couple had to stay in Coopernook with family.

The distance has made it challenging for Mr Mahr to get to work and support workers were unable to attend as often as they used to.

"They either wouldn't come that far... or certain things I would need them for wasn't enough work considering the travel," Mr Mahr said.

"Trying to get back from work, I had to use my NDIS funds to get back.

It's been very stressful."

When they finally did return home on Wednesday March 29, the couple had to deal with their damaged goods.

Shelfs and furniture remain water stained and damaged with sewage still remaining under the couch.

The apartment was also experiencing electrical problems after the flooding when the couple returned.

Other tenants in the building have also been affected by flooding.

CHL NSW State Manager Megan Davidson said that their investigation has revealed that the flooding was caused due to a defect in the building.

"We have contacted the builder to rectify the defect," she said.

"The works are ongoing with issues resolved for a couple of the residents to date."

Ms Davidson said that the safety and wellbeing of the tenants is a priority.

"We will ensure the defects are corrected in a timely manner and continue offering support to the tenants as they need it.

Mr Mahr said that the biggest problem is that their reports to maintenance isn't passed onto their property manager.

"Our property manager has been absolutely awesome," Mr Mahr said.

"We're more mad the people they're dealing with aren't doing things quickly enough." Mrs Mahr said.

In the meantime, the couple hope the problem will finally be resolved and that their damaged goods can be replaced.

"It's just been ongoing," Mr Mahr said

"We've only been here eight weeks and it's been issues after issues.

"I mean you expect minor ones but this is just constantly ongoing."

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