Melbourne sinkhole anger at Heidelberg oval as North East Link investigate cause
Concerns have been raised over the safety of a massive tunneling project after a sinkhole appeared in the vicinity of its works.
The ground at AJ Burkitt Reserve in Heidelberg, Melbourne’s northeast, collapsed in on late on Monday — leaving behind a hole about 10 metres wide and several metres deep.
Watch the video above: Massive sinkhole opens above North East Link tunnel
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Locals were spotted gathering around the sinkhole early on Tuesday morning after authorities set up an exclusion zone, with some fingers being pointed at the state government’s North East Link project.
The government body behind the project, the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA), told 7NEWS.com.au it is “aware of a surface hole at AJ Burkitt Reserve in Heidelberg, which is in the vicinity of our tunnelling operations”.
“The area has been secured and crews are closely monitoring the site and surrounding areas — and we strongly advise people to avoid the area while investigations into the cause are underway,” VIDA said.
“No injuries have been reported and there is no immediate threat to the community or residential properties.”
Touted as the “biggest ever investment in Melbourne’s north east”, the project is set to deliver 6.5km of tunnels from Watsonia to Bulleen to “fix the missing link” in the city’s freeway network.
Two tunnel boring machines have been used to carve out the tunnel’s path since 2024 and are set to pass directly underneath AJ Burkitt Reserve.
Both machines have their location published by the state government so residents know how progress is going.
The last update on the Victoria’s Big Build website shows them about 100m north of the field on their way south to Bulleen.
The local Banyule CIty Council also urged locals to “avoid the area until further notice”.
“Council is working closely with relevant agencies to assess the situation and determine what’s next,” it said.
“We’ll provide further updates as information becomes available.”
It comes after another sinkhole formed at an old army barracks site Lower Plenty in February 2025.
One of the boring machines was forced to pause operations due to the 18m deep and 1m wide hole while surface remediation works had to be undertaken.
The delay added to a growing cost blowout for the project, initially tipped at $10 billion in 2016 and reassessed in November at $26 billion.
Originally published on 7NEWS
