Mine subsidence families win Supreme Court battle for compensation Collingwood Park families affected by the collapse of old mine workings under their homes in 2008 have finally had a win in Brisbane's Supreme Court. About 19 families battled in the Supreme Court for five years to win compensation for their damaged homes. Shine Lawyers sought millions of dollars in compensation from the Queensland Government for families who argued their homes had lost value and were "unsaleable" after the mine shaft collapses. The Queensland Government defended the action, arguing they had already acquired 14 homes damaged when old mine workings under parts of Collingwood Park collapsed in 2008. Supreme Court Justice David Boddice ruled on Thursday in favour of the Collingwood Park families. "The complainants have established, on the balance of probability, that the defendant owed a duty of care to the owners of the surface land," he told the court. And in the monitoring, supervision and enforcement of those conditions. Justice Boddice ruled that the Queensland Government had "breached that duty of care" by "failing to properly monitor, supervise and enforce compliance" of the mining lease that covered the area where the homes were built. He said this breach of duty caused the collapse of the old mine shafts. "The plaintiffs have also established that this breach of duty was causative of the 2008 subsidence event," he said in his ruling. I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the defendant's breach of duty of care caused the diminution in value to those properties immediately adjacent to the area of the 2008 subsidence event, but not otherwise. The site of of Westfallen No 3 mine was bushland before a mining lease was issued in in 1967. It later became a residental estate, but "roadways"" 11 metres high and seven metres wide remained underground, according to the Australian Institute of Mine Surveyors in October 2013. The reported suggested Collingwood Park was just one case in a potential $1 billion problem for the Queensland Government. ""Unconfirmed estimates of the total cost of rehabilitation of abandoned mine sites have been placed in excess of $1 billion,"" it said. ""It is imperative that the problems that have occurred at Collingwood Park are not repeated elsewhere."" There was a cautious atmosphere outside the Supreme Court after Justice Boddice's ruling. Some of the claimants, who had lined two rows inside the court, believed the ruling might mean some families close to the affected area would receive compensation, while others might not. Shine Lawyers' Rebecca Jancauskas, representing the families, said she would take time to study the implications of the ruling. ""But today's decision brings to an end a long, hard fight on behalf of the residents seeking compensation."" Ms Jancauskas said the residents who won the fight, but were unable to claim compensation, could still claim a moral victory. ""They have succeeded in establishing that the state government breached its duty of care to them,"" she said. ""But His Honour has not awarded compensation in their favour."" Both parties will return to the Supreme Court in late January.