Wooburn: 35m deep sinkhole filled in but playing field remains closed

A 35m-deep sinkhole in Wooburn has finally been filled in, although Sappers Field, where it is located, remains closed to the public.

The huge whole was first reported in May 2023 in the same field where a similar sinkhole appeared towards the end of February 2020.

The latest update on the second sinkhole was provided during a meeting of Wooburn & Bourne End Parish Council on Tuesday.

Vice chairman Sue Wagner told her fellow councillors: “The remedial work has been completed at Sappers Field and we are awaiting a report from Buckinghamshire Council.”

The update was noted by those present, while parish clerk Mike Balbini added: “It is up to Bucks to tell us if it’s safe or not.”

After the meeting, Mr Balbini clarified that Sappers Field is ‘owned and run’ by Buckinghamshire Council and is not the parish council’s responsibility.

Bucks Council has paid for both sinkholes in Sappers Field to be filled and previously told the Bucks Free Press that remedial works on the second hole – which are now completed – were estimated to have cost £270,000.

The original sinkhole was backfilled and remediated by Soil Engineering Geoservices Ltd in 2022.

Mr Balbini told the Free Press: “We are waiting for [Bucks Council] to come back to us and only when they tell us it is safe to open, we will open it.

“It has been filled. It is still closed. The survey has been done. It has been done and sent off to Bucks.

“We are waiting for them to analyse it and we will then wait for them to let us know it is safe to open and then we will literally just take down the fences on the instruction from Bucks that it is safe. We can’t take that liability.”

Land surveyor Geoterra, which conducted 3D laser scans on the second sinkhole for the council, said it was around 200m from the first hole.

It said explained that the second hole, which was located beneath a children’s playground, was a 35m deep bell pit – a type of primitive excavation.

The playing field was previously used for brickmaking and clay was extracted from the site before the shaft was filled with waste and covered over with soil by Army sappers.

In February, Buckinghamshire Council’s cabinet member for accessible housing and resources, John Chilver, told the Free Press: “After conducting ground investigation works at the old mineshaft in Sappers Field during autumn 2023, and following a subsequent tender process, Soil Engineering Geoservices Ltd has been appointed to carry out the necessary remediation works.”

He added: “Once the remediation works are finished, Sappers Field will be restored as a public space. Based on recent analysis and surveys, we anticipate that there will be no recurrence of the previous issue.”

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