Council assessing if any residents evacuated because of sinkhole can return home

A local council is assessing whether any families who were evacuated after a sinkhole appeared in Surrey can return home, a councillor said.

A sinkhole appeared in the small village of Godstone on Monday night, causing residents from 30 properties to be evacuated and local roads to be closed.

Since then, local authorities have faced criticism from those living and working in the area regarding a lack of information on when residents would be allowed back home and support for businesses.

On Friday, Catherine Sayer, leader of Tandridge District Council, said that one household that had been previously evacuated has been allowed to return to its property and that the council is currently assessing whether any other families could also go home.

Of the household that has been permitted to return, she said: “The property is not near the sinkhole and has been assessed by a multi-agency technical team.

“They deemed it is suitable for the household to return.

“We are reviewing the list of evacuated households to consider if any other families could be allowed to return home.”

Ms Sayer previously said she was “very sorry” if anyone felt let down by the level of support from the local authority, adding the council had been “doing their best” to keep residents informed.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Sarah Lewis, who lives on William Way and was evacuated along with her two daughters aged four and six, said she felt “extremely stressed” about the uncertainty surrounding when she may be allowed back to their house.

The 36-year-old said the council had told her it could be between two to four months until the family may be able to return home and that they are currently staying in an Airbnb.

She criticised the council for a “black hole of information”, adding that residents had been left to “fend for themselves”.

Ifesi Anyamene, 50, who owns a pharmacy in Godstone High Street near the edge of the cordoned-off roads, said on Thursday that her business had received many calls from customers who were “scared and worried” about whether it was safe to collect their medicine.

“We’ve had to reassure people that it’s safe,” she added.

Dana Hussein, 39, who owns a barber shop on Godstone High Street, said he was “worried” about the impact of the sinkhole on his business and that, so far this week, he has only had a few customers as people are staying away from the area.

“If that road was closed for three to six months, it would affect our business because we would lose all the customers for six months.”

In a statement on Thursday, a spokesperson for Surrey County Council said: “Both councils’ contact centres have been receiving calls throughout the past three days, have dedicated webpages live and have been issuing updates via their news pages and social media.”

On Thursday morning, Matt Furniss, the cabinet member for highways, transport and economic growth at the county council, said properties surrounding the sinkhole have been declared stable for now and that the investigation into the incident “may take months”.

He confirmed a second sinkhole appeared in a property’s front garden on Tuesday afternoon, which is thought to be linked to the first.

Tandridge District Council previously said it understood there were “historical sandpits” in the area and that the site was being assessed by structural experts.