On a cold Monday night in February, a sinkhole appeared on Godstone High Street. At 1am on the Tuesday morning, nearby residents were woken by the police knocking on their doors. They were advised to get out as quickly as possible because of concerns exposed cables might cause a gas explosion.
Residents described the evacuation scenes as “terrifying”. One had moved in less than a week before and hadn’t finished unpacking. Another family who left their property in the early hours of Tuesday morning to stay with relatives, were shocked when they returned to find the garden of their property had been swallowed by the sinkhole.
By Tuesday afternoon, the sinkhole had grown to at least 20 metres. A second hole had now appeared, with a car teetering on the brink and the owner unable to move it. Water supplies had been cut off to the surrounding area and engineers from SES Water were working to fix a burst main water pipe and distributing bottled water to residents.
Around 30 households were evacuated. Most were from a private housing development completed in 2020 and built on piled foundations.
Surrey County Council, responsible for Highways and initially leading the response because a major incident had been declared, set up a cordon around the sinkhole, stating that “it could be months before families were allowed back into their homes.” A number of businesses trapped within the cordon also face an uncertain future.
Two days later, the sinkhole was reassessed as a “significant incident” and Tandridge District Council began leading the response. There had been criticism from residents about a lack of information and, with the help of Godstone Parish Council, we set up an information centre at St Nicholas Youth Centre. Details for all the evacuated residents and affected businesses were collected and a daily update bulletin issued. Our website is also being kept up to date.
On the Friday, six households were allowed to return home after their properties were assessed as safe. Others were staying with family or friends or housed by the Council in the Whyteleafe Travelodge as an emergency measure. Some home insurers were helpful and paid for the costs of temporary accommodation, others are doing their best to avoid paying.
Residents had a lot of questions and unfortunately, not all of them could be answered including the most important one, “when can we go back home?”
To try to ensure that as many people as possible knew all there was to know, we held a public meeting. Representatives of the four main agencies involved were present to answer questions: they were Tandridge District Council (responsible for welfare and housing); Surrey Highways (responsible for the road); SES Water and Surrey Police.
At the packed meeting, the Surrey Highways representative stated the sinkhole could “take up to a year to solve.” It was the first time a timescale for the repair had been given and although some had feared as much, the news was met with shock. It was now clear that there would need to be longer term support with housing for displaced residents. There was also major concern among affected businesses.
We and Surrey Highways attended a meeting for businesses, set up by the MP, to listen to their concerns and see what we can do to support them.
Godstone is very much open for business as usual and it would be great if people went out of their way to support the great pubs, cafes and shops, as well as the garage and other services available . The road diversion is easy to follow and quite a direct route.
During the week following the collapse, highways engineers had been unable to carry out borehole testing because the area around the sinkhole was not stable enough. Instead, less intrusive 3D mapping technology and ground penetrating radar surveys were used. Surrey Highways said “these surveys will give us information about what is below the surface, for instance any voids further under the existing visible sinkholes.” The surveys would also help inform how best to safely stabilise and repair the site.
Sand caves
The sinkhole has led to a close examination of Godstone’s sand mining history. The Wealden Cave and Mine Society says that sand deposits were mined at least since the 18th century up to the early 20th century in the Godstone area, leaving a legacy of numerous “caves”.
Ordnance Survey maps of Godstone published in 1869 and 1872 show there is an “entrance to a subterranean sand pit” very close to the location of the current sinkhole on Godstone High Street.
A blog post by Peter Burgess of the Wealden Society notes that a later 1895 map shows a “significant opencast sand pit had been established immediately adjacent” to the sand pit entrance. He adds this is not the first time a sinkhole has occurred in Godstone - in 1879, a horse and van were reported to have vanished suddenly into a large hole that appeared in the road.
At the time of writing, it is not known what caused the collapse. A number of Godstone residents have said they fear that, whatever the immediate cause, the number of HGVs that travel along Godstone Hill and through the High Street, are a contributory factor and are calling for road restrictions to deal with the lorries.
If you have any comments or questions on any matter, please just get in touch at Cllr.Catherine.Sayer@tandridge.gov.uk
Councillor Catherine Sayer
Leader of the Council