Plans to fill housing estate sinkhole submitted

Plans to permanently fill a huge hole that appeared on a driveway of a home on a new housing estate in East Lancashire have been submitted to the council.

The sinkhole appeared in Greenfield, near Pole Lane, Darwen, in September with emergency services called to the scene.

Initially six homes on the Tilia Homes' Taylor's Green development were evacuated, with three households remaining in temporary rented accommodation.

The Mining Remediation Authority estimated the hole could be 100ft (30m) deep and could be linked to "former sandstone workings" in the area and has ruled out coal mining.

Tilia Homes has submitted a planning application to "remediate the unrecorded shaft collapse within the driveway of the property".

Supporting technical documents submitted with the application said the works would include drilling boreholes, filling and grouting and monitoring for hazardous gas before adding a reinforced concrete shaft cap.

They said: "It is understood that the collapse occurred on 21 September 2025, following a period of heavy rainfall.

"Following the collapse, the area was inspected by the Mining Remediation Authority and the local authority.

"The collapse is understood to be related to an unrecorded shaft, with an estimated diameter of approximately 1.5m.

"The void was subsequently filled with gravel by the MRA on 25 and 26 September 2025."

Darwen South ward councillor Anthony Shaw said: "I'm happy to see that the plan has now come forward so we can get this issue resolved and get the displaced families back into their homes as soon as possible"

Tilia Homes has been approached for comment, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) said.

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