On this day in 1991, a case of a mistaken house found its way on the front page as workers laid pipe at the wrong address. Elizabeth Anderson had been out for the day and drove into her driveway around 4.45pm only to find a trench dug up from the footpath to the house with several holes in her front lawn.
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Taken aback by the scene, Andersen said "I got out of the car and said 'what the hell are you doing?' and they (the workmen) said, 'we are putting on the gas'". She asked them who had authorised the work and they replied, the ACT housing authority.
Andersen told them they must have had the incorrect address and thought that the workmen were there as one of the water mains must have burst. She clarified her address and told them her house was Block 10, Section 258 and the foreman confirmed that those were the details he was provided.
The foreman further explained that he and his workmen were contracted to install gas connections for the Natural Gas Company to 90 rental properties that the ACT housing trust owned. This prompted Andersen to respond "I bought this house 14 years ago" and went back into her house to get her mortgage documents.
Upon seeing the documents, Andersen said "the workman said 'oh dear', and he asked 'what should I do?', I said 'I don't know, (maybe) follow your instructions'." The trench and holes that were dug up were filled and the workmen completed the gas connections for all the properties.
An AGL representative, Cathy Storen, contacted Andersen and advised her to get in touch with the ACT housing trust, which she did. When she rang the trust, she spoke to a public servant who apparently, "laughed his head off" after being told what happened. The public servant promised to see what he could do about what transpired.
The public servant after a while her back to explain what happened. He said the Natural Gas Company made a mistake as the gas connection should have occurred at 34 Ragless Circuit and not 39 Ragless Circuit, Andersen's address. The company planned to get in contact with Andersen to apologise for the error.
