Social club in Swansea teetering on edge of giant sinkhole
Video report by Dean Thomas-Welch
Members of a social club in Swansea, teetering on the edge of a giant sinkhole, say they are no closer to finding a solution more than a year after it first appeared.
Cwmfelin Social Club closed its doors in August 2023 after a sinkhole appeared in the club's car park, forcing 600 members and 20 employees to leave the building.
A culvert 10 meters under the club and a disused tramline are believed to be the reasons for the vast cavity.
Michael Kennedy, secretary of Cwmfelin Social Club, says "no one has come forward with a solution" more than 12 months on from when the hole first appeared.
He told ITV Wales: "The size of the sinkhole was no more than a dustbin lid at the time.
"It’s 12 months, nobody's come forward with any solution to the problem and we are going into the second year now.
"It’s so frustrating, for everybody involved, that we stand here today and we still don’t have a solution."
Both Welsh Water and Network Rail say they are working to find a resolution with nearby sewage pipes and a railway line impacted by the sinkhole. However, both organisations say the club and the giant hole sitting on private land is proving challenging.
A spokesperson for Dwr Cymru Welsh Water said: "Restoring the sewer network is proving extremely challenging due to the difficult ground conditions around the sinkhole, the location of existing buildings, and the nearby railway line.
"We are discussing with the other agencies involved to see if we can work together to resolve this."
A Network Rail spokesperson said: "We remain satisfied that the sinkhole on private land in the Cwmbwrla area of Swansea poses no imminent risk to the railway.
"However, we are in the process of negotiating an asset protection agreement with Welsh Water to allow work to be undertaken in the vicinity of the railway."
Residents living close to the club say they have faced disruption from roadworks and a nearby pumping station.
Resident Margaret Hughes said: "The club has been here since the 1950s.
"I think for it to have got to this stage is bad. The tunnels under the club were put in in Victorian times, why have they not been inspected regularly?"
Councillor Peter Black, representing the Cwmbwrla ward, says many of his constituents are missing out by not having access to their club, and he wants everyone involved to work together to ensure a new club can open as quickly as possible.
"Some of the residents who live on Carmarthen Road, right next to the club, they have had to put up vibrations and noise from the pumping station," he said.
"A lot of people in this area used to use that club, it was a major social centre for the community.
"They have been denied that now and no one seems to know what is going to happen and how we are going to get the club back. It is important we get this club back for the community."
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