Meeting gives no new clarity on sinkhole concerns

Hundreds of residents have attended a meeting to discuss the future of Godstone High Street, which has been shut for nearly a year because of a giant sinkhole.

Thirty families had to be evacuated from the street last February after sinkholes were found, and engineers later uncovered Victorian sand mining tunnels beneath the site.

Hopes of reopening the street in December had been dashed when SES Water said work would continue until spring.

East Surrey MP Claire Coutinho, who organised the Friday evening meeting, asked key agencies Sutton and East Surrey Water (SES) and Surrey County Council (SCC) for a specific date for completion, but she was told they could not be more precise.

Matt Furniss, cabinet member for highways at SCC, told those gathered at St Nicholas Youth Centre that they are still injecting "compacting grout" - a stiff concrete-like substance - in order to shore up the affected areas.

Furniss explained that the work is being carried out 10-15 metres underground and, to date, 600 metric tonnes of the grout has been poured into the tunnels.

He added that he could not say how long it will take to make things stable, but that recent wet weather had delayed progress.

However, after work is completed, SES said it can begin the installation of a new water main.

Also raised in the meeting was subject of council tax reductions for residents directly affected, along with compensation for struggling businesses.

However, locals were told that cannot happen without an admittance of liability.

SES Water said that it did not accept liability for the incident, while SCC said it has yet to conclude its investigation and that the priority is to get the road reopened.

Mark Cullinan, owner of the Hare & Hounds in Godstone, told Radio Surrey: "We lost up to £60,000 and we're are not going to recoup that.

"It's going to take years for the business to recover from the loss."

Peter O'Connell, rector of St Nicholas Church, also attended the meeting.

He said there was "a lot of concerns and frustration" from residents as there was "no clear end in sight" when the street would reopen.

"We also didn't get clarity on when the current round of repairs would be finished," he added.

"For businesses, the impact has been enormous with tens of thousands of pounds of lost revenue."

Having described the sinkhole as "probably the biggest thing" to happen in her constituency since she was elected six years ago, Coutinho previously said that not knowing when the road will reopen was "hugely disconcerting".

She had also criticised the lack of responsibility being shouldered for the incident, adding that it "left things very unclear for residents and businesses as to whether there'll be any compensation for their losses."

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