Some neighbours in Greater Sudbury are fed up with what is happening to their backyards.
Their land is sinking in - and the property owners told CTV more needs to be done by the city.
Five home owners on Melbourne Street in new Sudbury are watching their backyards disappear because of soil erosion.
Charlene Aikia said her backyard continues to erode and it's not stopping. It worries her on a number of levels; including her property value.
“We could not even sell our home right now, we are locked in and being robbed,” said Charlene, who has lived on Melbourne Street for the past 17 years.
Her daughter, Jamie, remembers the fun she once had in the family’s backyard; swimming in a small pool and jumping on a trampoline.
“I'm 22-years-old right now, the last time I was able to play in the backyard was when I was 14-years-old,” said Jamie.
“We sat here on the weekend and we were almost falling back in our chairs,” added Stephanie Liba, who lives next door to the Aikias.
Liba’s backyard is in the same state. Two years ago the homeowner said she reached out to the city, with hopes the problem would be fixed.
“They've dug boreholes, they've done surveying and last week, we found out that there’s basically nothing they are willing to do for us, as far as fixing the big hole in our yard.”
Liba said the city offered four solutions; three of which would result in the homeowners footing the bill.
The city told CTV it continues to monitor the situation.
“We've done a soil investigation. We are satisfied that the buildings are fine,” said Tony Cecutti, general manager of Infrastructure Services.
“They are very well constructed, the buildings are going to be fine. Now we are working with the property owners to find out some mitigation strategies for the erosion.”
Cecutti added there is a shared responsibility between the property owners and the city.
He expects another meeting will be held with all parties to figure out a way to deal with the issue.
