A gaping sinkhole has opened up near Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's mansion in the affluent Sydney suburb of Point Piper.

Four homes were evacuated on Wentworth Street and part of the road and footpath caved in this morning.

Police were called to the leafy suburb after reports of a collapsed footpath about 7:00am.

Part of the street was blocked off.

Woollahra council's director of technical services Tom O'Hanlon said the site could take weeks to fix.

"It's too early for us to comment on the stability of what's going on underneath [the ground]," he said.

"We're going to make the site safe, so that our geo-tech engineer can get down into the hole and have a look at what's going on down there."

Exposed pipes can be seen in the sinkhole. ( ABC News: Ursula Malone )

There was no damage to private property. The hole was said to be less than one kilometre from the Prime Minister's residence.

Local resident Kirsty Mirzikinian said yesterday she smelt gas and firefighters arrived in the street and started breaking away at concrete on the footpath.

Map The sinkhole was in a neighbouring street to Malcolm Turnbull's property

"Crews stayed and worked through the night and basically we have woken up this morning and there is a massive hole on the sidewalk and on the street," Ms Mirzikinian said.

"They turned off our gas and our electricity and we can't even drive into the street.

"It's just complete chaos in Point Piper, which is normally such a quiet suburb."

She said her family would most likely have to stay in a hotel tonight until access is restored.



Sydney was inundated by torrential rain yesterday, with about 50mm dumped on the eastern suburbs — including Point Piper.

There were several reports of flash flooding.

"There's been a huge amount of water but at this stage we don't have a firm conclusion as to what has caused this," Woollahra Deputy Mayor Susan Wynne said.