A local council is assessing whether any families who were evacuated after a sinkhole appeared in Surrey can return home.
A 62ft sinkhole appeared in the small village of Godstone on Monday night, forcing residents from 30 properties to leave their homes, with local roads closed.
But since then, local authorities have faced criticism from those living and working in the area for failing to give information about when anyone can return. Residents had previously been told they may be out of their homes for months.
On Friday, Catherine Sayer, leader of Tandridge District Council, said one household that had been previously evacuated has been allowed to return to its property and the council is currently assessing whether any other families could also go home.
She had previously apologised to anyone feeling let down by the level of support, and said the council had been doing its best to keep residents informed.
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.”
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Sarah Lewis, a mother of two, said she felt “extremely stressed” about the uncertainty surrounding when they could go 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 they are currently staying in an Airbnb.
She criticised the council for a “black hole of information”, adding residents had been left to “fend for themselves”.
‘Scared and worried’
The owner of the local pharmacy, Ifesi Anyamene, 50, said her customers were “scared and worried” about whether it was safe to collect their medicine. The pharmacy is based near the edge of the cordon.
“We’ve had to reassure people that it’s safe,” she said.
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Dana Hussein, 39, who owns a barber shop, also 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.”
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.”
