Historical mine maps and plans are being reviewed after a sinkhole filled with swirling water opened up in the backyard of a home in Ipswich, west of Brisbane.

A neighbour alerted Lynn and Ray McKay about 9:00am after noticing the hole opening up on their Basin Pocket property.

The hole has since increased to about eight metres in diameter.

"Well, we don't get up 'til late because we are retired," he said.

"Nine o'clock I got a knock on the door and it's the chap from next door.

"He was out watering his tomato plants and he said 'Do you want the good news or the bad news?'

"I come out and I've got a hole in the ground, it was only a little one, a metre, and it's just got bigger since."

Queensland Utilities were called, in the belief that a water pipe had burst, however the McKays were told there were no related pipes in the area.

Mayor Paul Pisasale said it could be related the old mines in the area.

"We've identified the fact that there's a shaft put in here many many years ago," he said.

'There's no sewerage lines here. What it is is old mine workings.

"No-one knows what has happened but we will know in the next couple of days."

He said the McKays, who have lived at the house in Coal Street for 25 years, were also victims of the 2011 floods.

"I can assure Ray and Lynn they won't be alone," he said.

"We're there to solve the problem.

"It's a community problem.

"It's not about local government or state government, this is about making sure that these two people know that they are not going to be left alone."

The property has been cordoned off and the McKays have been moved out temporarily.

A Department of Natural Resources and Mines spokeswoman said a review of historical mine maps and plans in the area was underway as part of the investigation into the possible cause.

"The department is working with the Department of Environment and Heritage Protection to determine an appropriate method to pump and dispose of water from the sinkhole," the spokeswoman said.