Sites for new Melton cemetery and possible crematorium discussed

This is one of the two options put forward in a report addressing the need to provide more plots soon with the existing Thorpe Road graveyard nearing capacity.

It is estimated that the town cemetery will run out of space as early as 2023 and the other option recommended in the study is to extend the Thorpe Road site by using nearby land within Melton Country Park which would be accessed off Doctors Lane.

Melton Borough Council backed the findings of the study at a meeting yesterday (Wednesday) as a framework for further discussions on the issue, with a decision being needed on which site to pursue by next year.

Councillor Leigh Higgins, who is deputy leader and portfolio holder for growth and regeneration, told cabinet colleagues: “The current cemetery doesn’t have an endless life.

“It may eventually become a closed cemetery when it does become full.

“We do need a new cemetery so this is a very important report for the people of Melton Mowbray and the families of deceased people who will use it.”

The report, prepared by consultants, states that there has been no previous assessment of conventional cemetery provision in Melton by the council in the last 20 years.

“Based on a range of measures including estimates of the rate of uptake and the remaining area at the council’s sole facility at Thorpe Road, Melton then it is considered that this site will reach capacity somewhere within three to five years (2023 – 2025) and possibly earlier if there is a spike in demand,” the authors report.

“This places a risk on the council and given the lead time, decisions on ‘conventional’ cemetery provision will need to be made no later than 2021.

“If a new ‘conventional’ cemetery is created in Melton, then an area set aside for natural burial would be a desirable addition.”

The Nottingham Road site put forward as one of the options for a new burial ground is currently owned by Leicestershire County Council and is leased to John Ferneley College.

There would be access to it via a new roundabout built as part of the approved Melton Mowbray Distributor Road (MMDR), which is due to be built by 2023.

The site is currently open fields with some former farm buildings on it.

The consultants say a large new cemetery here would give scope to seek a strategic partner to co-fund it with the council and potentially build a chapel of rest, a crematorium and provide a green burial space with associated woodland.

The report says that the other option, to extend the existing Thorpe Road site, is complicated by parts of it being under two separate ownerships.

A community allotment there could likely be retained, the consultants point out, but there are semi-natural areas in private ownership which are difficult to access due to overgrown hedgerows.

They add: “Whilst the site could use the main non-denominational chapel at Thorpe Road cemetery it is advisable to consider having a waiting room, visitor facility with toilets within the extension.”

Consideration was given to other land nearby off Thorpe Road but the recreational ground opposite was discounted because it is in a flood zone.

The existing Thorpe Road cemetery, which is managed by the council, scored an ‘outstanding’ 89 per cent rating in a site audit this year and the consultants say this should be a benchmark standard for the new burial ground site.