Decision due on future of borough cemetery

A DECISION on  plans to expand and upgrade a Caversham cemetery was set to be delivered this week.

The cemetery complex in All Hallows Road, which was opened in 1927, is the current burial site for the Reading borough, but accepts burials from the wider area.

The council wants to make improvements to the cemetery including a new staff area, collection facilities and works to improve accessibility.

Under the plans, the staff area will be increased by 16 sq m to improve the provision for staff and create a new location for the collection of ashes. A new path will improve access to the building. The existing funeral collection point will be converted into a plant room and drainage improvements include a new gully to feed to the courtyard manhole.

A new ramp at the entrance and exit of the West Chapel and skid-resistant paving were to be installed to improve access to the building. Two large louvres are proposed to improve ventilation in the cremator’s room.

In a report prepared by planning officer Nathalie Weeks, the plans are said to result in a “small change” to the crematorium buildings at the centre of the site.

It said: “The proposed development is considered to have a negligible impact and the public benefits of the works proposed will enable an improved offering at Reading crematorium.” The council said the plans are part of a longer scheme of works to improve the cemetery facilities.

A decision was to be handed down at a meeting of the council’s planning committee on Wednesday.

The site was formerly used as farmland until it was purchased by the Reading Corporation in 1924. There are currently 25,000 graves for full or coffin burials and 3,000 cremation plots covering an area of 50ha. The council has previously warned the borough would likely run out of room for burials by 2030.

Last year, it recommended using land currently used for allotments adjoining the cemetery to provide about 2,300 new grave sites. It said the plans would delay the burial site shortage for about 14 years and that it had exhausted all other realistic and affordable options.

The allotment land is designated as “reserve cemetery ground”, meaning it would only be used as allotments until cemetery ground was needed.

A public consultation on the plans found that 46.4 per cent of people believed the council should continue to provide burial sites in Reading.

Allotment holders, some of whom had used the allotments for 30 years, had objected to the plans, and more than half who responded said they wanted an alternative allotment site.