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Agenda item

Cemetery Provision in Tewkesbury Town

To agree a solution for the provision of cemetery facilities within Tewkesbury town.

Subject To Call In::Yes - No action to be taken prior to the expiry of the call-in period.

Decision:

1.   That it be AGREED that the presale of burial plots in Tewkesbury Cemetery be permanently suspended.

2.   That it be AGREED that the provision of burials at Tewkesbury Cemetery be transferred to Bishop’s Cleeve Cemetery as an alternative when Tewkesbury Cemetery is full.

3.   That authority be delegated to the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management, to:

a.   agree areas within Tewkesbury Cemetery for additional burials that have no impact on previous burials, tree roots or footpaths;

b.   agree future sundry items, such as columbariums, where a business case is prudent and all necessary permissions are sought; and

c.   keep the usage of Tewkesbury Cemetery under review and seek opportunities for further cemetery provision in Tewkesbury as the opportunity arises.

Minutes:

29.1           The report of the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager, circulated at Pages No. 21-25, informed Members of the limited capacity at Tewkesbury Town Cemetery which it was estimated would be full within three years if no action was taken. Members were asked to agree a way forward which would also allow Officers to investigate the long term opportunities that would generate income for the benefit of the site including agreeing to the permanent suspension of presale burial plots; to agree that the provision of burials at Tewkesbury Cemetery be transferred to Bishop’s Cleeve Cemetery as an alternative when Tewkesbury Cemetery was full; to delegate authority to the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management, to agree areas within Tewkesbury Cemetery for additional burials that had no impact on previous burials, tree roots and footpaths; and to agree future sundry items, such as a columbarium, where a business case was prudent and all necessary permissions were sought.

29.2           The Finance and Asset Management Group Manager explained that, under Section 214 of the Local Government Act 1972, the Council had the power, not an obligation, to provide cemeteries and crematoria. In Tewkesbury Borough many of the Parishes used the power rather than the Borough Council itself and the Council was the freeholder owner of only two of the cemeteries within the Borough; Bishop’s Cleeve and Tewkesbury. In terms of deaths across the whole Borough there were around 850 per year and around 75% of those chose cremation rather than burial. In Tewkesbury and Bishop’s Cleeve there had been approximately 40-50 burials in the last 12 months. Currently Bishop’s Cleeve Cemetery had over 500 plots remaining for body burials which equated to over 20 years’ worth of burials. In Tewkesbury cemetery there were 25 plots remaining on the current layout which gave a useful life of only one to two years; however, 109 plots had been pre-purchased and there were many double and triple graves which were yet to be utilised.

29.3           A number of options had been considered for the future but not all would be viable: the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) had been commissioned in July to investigate the need for a crematorium in the area. From the initial findings it appeared that there would not currently be a demand to support a crematorium based in Tewkesbury itself. The review had demonstrated that, to enable a crematorium to be commercially viable, there had to be a throughput of around 650 to 700 cremations per year; there were currently 635 per year from Tewkesbury Borough and a number of those would continue to use Cheltenham and Gloucester crematorium; Officers had investigated the possibility of reburial on sections of Tewkesbury cemetery and had identified an area where a majority of exclusive burial rights and leases had exceeded 100 years and had expired, however, under Section 25 of the Burial Act 1857, burial authorities required a licence from the Secretary of State for reburial. This was unlikely to be granted given the junior Justice Minister’s view that it was not critical to introduce a policy for reusing graves away from the London authorities; investigations had been made into the possibility of using other areas of the cemetery for burials such as between trees and along the edges of roads and pathways – this exercise had identified approximately 40 additional graves which would provide an additional two to three years of burials; Officers had considered the option of purchasing a new site for burials but land that was not susceptible to flooding or of historic interest was at a premium around Tewkesbury and the likely cost of plots would make it an unviable option; in terms of an additional cemetery, the investment did not seem to make financial or operational sense when alternative land availability would most likely be some distance from the current provision in Tewkesbury town and when there was still availability for burials in Bishop’s Cleeve and scattering of ashes at Tewkesbury; and Officers had also looked at alternative internment options with a columbarium featuring highly as an appropriate option since it could be sited along fence lines and under trees and could be sold in ten year leases. However, work would need to be undertaken to investigate the suitability and demand for such an option. In response to a query, the Committee was advised that a columbarium was a free standing stone structure which included a number of compartments that housed urns of ashes. The door for each compartment was suitable for a memorial plaque and there was often also a receptacle for flowers. The compartments were usually large enough to intern two urns so it could significantly extend the life of the cemetery.

29.4           During the discussion which ensued, a Member proposed, and it was seconded, that an additional recommendation be agreed to ensure that the usage of Tewkesbury cemetery was kept under review and that opportunities for further cemetery provision continued to be sought as the opportunity arose. Another Member questioned whether the Council asked for provision for burial ground through developers and whether the graves that were reserved at Tewkesbury Cemetery had been reviewed to see if they were still required. In response, the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager indicated that it was intended that a request for burial facilities be added to the Community Infrastructure Levy list and Section 106 Agreements would also look at that issue. In terms of a review of the burial plots, he confirmed that this had been undertaken relatively recently but he would be happy to undertake a further review in the near future. In terms of crematoria, he explained that Officers had been in discussion with Cheltenham Borough Council about a partnership for its crematorium project and it had been agreed that there may be some potential opportunities which could be explored.

29.5           Accordingly, it was

Action By:DCE

Supporting documents: