Surrey residents facing year-long wait for massive sinkhole repairs

Residents in an upmarket English village are facing a potential year-long wait for repairs after a massive sinkhole swallowed parts of their street.

Thirty properties were evacuated on February 17 after a cavernous 19 metre hole appeared in the leafy and historic High Street in Godstone, Surrey. A second sinkhole appeared a day later.

Of the 30 homes, 24 remain unliveable, The Mirror reported. 

Residents used a Tandridge District Council public meeting to voice their concerns over timing of repairs and called for clarity on their living arrangements.

Diego Silva, who lives in the street with his wife and young daughter, claimed the incident meant his family had to sleep in three different locations in four nights.

“If it was for us – me and my wife – we would be more than welcome to jump around, but we have a baby, and she needs the stability,” the paper quoted Silva as saying.

The 33-year-old finance worker has been living in Godstone, about an hour’s drive from London, for less than six months.

In reply to questions about a timeframe of repairs, Lloyd Allen, the head of the technical team in charge of the response, said an incident of this nature “takes up to a year to solve”. 

Allen explained the damage was considered a collapse rather than a sinkhole.

A statement from Surrey County Council on February 25 said highway teams continue working around the clock to manage the sinkhole.

“We’ll be using specialist equipment to carry out further ground assessments this week to assess what is below the surface and to understand what further surveys we need to carry out. These comprehensive assessments will help to inform how best to safely stabilise and repair the site,” the statement said.

“Due to the unprecedented nature of this incident, we expect the full-scale repair of the site to take several more months. Along with Tandridge District Council, we’ll continue to keep residents and businesses updated as our works progress and we thank them for their ongoing patience as we deal with this complex incident.”

Royal Mail are currently holding all mail for the affected residents at the local delivery office, as it can’t be delivered.