Auckland sinkhole repairs 'very challenging', could take days

It could be days before a 13m-deep sinkhole in one of Auckland's main sewer lines will be fixed, says the city's deputy mayor.

The sinkhole opened up above a section of the pipe on private property in Parnell.

A large amount of earth is blocking the sewer and crew have to clear that away before they can start repairs.

Deputy mayor Desley Simpson told First Up it was the third sinkhole in the city in months.

"It's almost, dare I say it, in one of the best places it could be, which is in a car park at a no exit street," she said.

"It is still serious, and I'm telling you, it's a blimming big hole."

Simpson said the hole was roughly half the size of a tennis court.

Auckland's bad weather and the city's ageing infrastructure were causing ongoing problems, she said.

"Our ground is very wet, therefore susceptible to this kind of thing."

The broken wastewater pipe is part of a sewer which services large parts of central and West Auckland.

Now it was blocked, large volumes of untreated wastewater from central and West Auckland had gone straight into the Waitematā Harbour, contaminating inner-city beaches.

Auckland residents were being asked not to swim at any inner-city beaches, over contamination fears.

Minister for Auckland Carmel Sepuloni said infrastructure in the super city was a major issue.

The three-year political cycle made it difficult to shore up long-term infrastructure, Sepuloni said.

"Not having consensus over political cycles means that it does inhibit us from being able to get ahead with respect to having that infrastructure that we need in place."

Sepuloni said it was one of the areas the country fell short on.

"In some instances, it is the local government's decisions and resourcing that's required, sometimes central government. Particularly for Auckland, infrastructure is a major issue."

Watercare chief of operations Mark Bourne told Morning Report crews had worked through the night.

"It is making progress but it is a very large block, it's a very serious block, and it's a very challenging condition for our teams to work in."

It would take several days to fix, Bourne said, adding that it was too early to determine what caused the failure.

Craig Horne from nearby cafe Axis Espresso said the sinkhole had become the talk of the neighbourhood.

"There's a bit of worry, a few people's car parks have gone," he said. "People ask 'will it get any bigger', that sort of talk."

Horne believed the recent heavy rain had contributed to the severity of the sinkhole.

"It's been very wet, and most earth, concrete, things, could have that issue when you've got so much water over all that time," Horne said.

"It's going to happen at some point."