CHOKING back tears in his childhood home, Mark Crockett's earliest memories have been drowned out by a constant battle against an overflowing water pit that inundates his home when it rains.
"It's like a ticking time bomb walking around here at the moment, everyone is at breaking point," he said.
"It's not a happy household anymore."
He said the problem at his Golding Avenue home at Belmont began about a decade earlier, and he's been fighting Lake Macquarie City Council (LMCC) for a solution ever since.
In his living room, the carpets have been ripped up and extension cords snake their way from one side of the house to the other, where the electricity no longer works.
If he uses the toaster, kettle or dryer at the same time it trips power to the entire house.
There's no taps in his bathroom and the water runs constantly, Mr Crockett telling the Newcastle Herald he can't fix it because his home is sinking into the ground on the left side.
Diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, he said the damage to his home and lack of action from the council has put so much stress on his body that he's gone from relapsing remitting MS to the secondary progressive stage of the disease.
"I'm under the care now of psychologists, neurologists, everybody I never used to see. I never used to see a psychologist until all of this started," he said.
"I feel like I'm back in the prehistoric times, I don't want to live here anymore.
"I have to go to this wellness retreat next week to try to stop these suicidal thoughts, just to get out of here for five days.
"Then I've still got to come back to it. Some days I don't even want to come home."
Mr Crockett believes the problems started when a stormwater pit was moved further down the hill behind his house.
According to LMCC, it hasn't moved any infrastructure near Wommera Avenue for at least 15 years.
A council spokesman said that earlier this month, staff undertook drainage maintenance works on the shoulder road and associated stormwater pits and conduits were cleaned with a 'vac truck' in August.
"Minor improvements to drainage infrastructure at nearby 5 Golding Avenue have been identified for inclusion in our future works program," he said.
"However, requests for works of this nature are assessed and prioritised against other similar requests for works across the city."
He said the council's records show there have been about 30 requests for maintenance and drainage works in the area across the last four years - compared to 6000 across the city in the same period.
According to the council, it received a request about the Wommara Avenue water pit on June 10 and a council officer met with the resident six days later.
In March this year a local MP contacted the council in regards to the same issues and a council worker was sent out again on April 12.
The council spokesman said staff have met with residents to inspect minor subsidence in paved areas and a retaining wall on private land.
Next door to Mr Crockett at Lynette Harden's house, retaining walls behind the pool have bowed and cracked under pressure - threatening to cave in.
Across the street, Stephen Ramshay said in the last 12 to 18 months, issues with water flow and drainage are the worst they've ever been.
"We do live at the bottom of the hill and I expect water, but it never used to be like this," he said.
"The piers under the house are sinking, the yard never dries out and it's just frustrating.
"I sometimes have to pump water out of my backyard to get it out, otherwise it can take two to three weeks until it dries again."
An easement at the rear of his property exacerbates the problem, flooding his backyard from the other side when it rains.
He said he's had to jack his house up and put packers in between the piers because they have sunk.
Since Mr Crockett's concerns were raised on A Current Affair last week, a LMCC spokesman said the council has undertaken to inspect pipes with cameras to look at their condition and performance and investigate the capacity of the stormwater pits, pipes and overland flow routes in the area.
- Support is available for those who may be distressed. Phone Lifeline 13 11 14
