Agenda item

The Legal Commercial Team Manager and Service Manager – Greenspace will be available to answer questions from Members regarding the Crematorium.

Following discussion of the Part 1 item, the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee moved the meeting into Part II discussion.

RESOLVED:  That the information provided by the Service Manager – Greenspace and The Legal Commercial Team Manager regarding the proposed crematorium at Wilbury Hills be noted.

Audio Recording – Start of Item – 21 Minutes 5 Seconds

The Legal Commercial Team Manager introduced the verbal presentation and provided Members with a brief background as follows:

·                Planning Permission for the development of a Crematorium had been applied for at Wilbury Hills in July 2018.

·                The application had been determined in March 2019.  Central Bedfordshire had refused the application on the basis that their planning officer was concerned of the damage that it would cause to the countryside.

·                An appeal had subsequently been lodged in July 2019 and a detailed statement of case had been submitted to support the planning appeal.

·                The Planning Inspector needed to set a date for the hearing, however, it was anticipated that it would be a ‘one day’ hearing only.

The Service Manager – Greenspace provided, for clarification, the following information:

·                Development of Wilbury Hills had commenced in 2003 when the existing crematorium on Icknield Way had reached it’s capacity.

·                The current layout of the Wilbury Hills cemetery had been developed and installed in 2008, however it had been a cemetery for 5 years previously.

·                NHDC were looking to accommodate the diverse community and future-proof the provision of variables within North Hertfordshire.

·                The Service Manager – Greenspace had hosted a meeting with a wide range of communities to ascertain what type of burial service should be provided in order to meet the needs for as many different religious representations/traditions as possible.

·                Wilbury Hills had been built with a view that it would be a district wide provision and a centre for all types of burials.

·                The Council had worked initially with the Diocese in order to accommodate their own strong rules and regulations.

·                A formal ceremony had been carried out by the Bishop of St Albans at Wilbury Hills cemetery and half of the variable plots had been consecrated in order to provide religious choice.

·                Their wish was to facilitate/accommodate the way in which people were using the cemetery, that was evolving into more than just a place where people laid flowers on graves, becoming an environment to be more inclusive with the loved one that had been lost.

·                Not a traditional cemetery – part of the community that people felt comfortable to go and visit.

·                Formal areas had been kept to a minimum – chosen not to go down the traditional rows of memorials route, but instead, the alternative provision of meadowland, wild flowers and trees. 

·                Maintenance costs had been kept low along with contribution to the bio-diversity at Wilbury Hills.

·                Income gained had been ring-fenced to reinvest into the next niches as required.

·                Design principals were of sympathetic design within its surroundings – a solid black building that was maintenance free, the look of a civic building that commanded respect and made the most of the views over Bedfordshire.

·                Built the existing L-shaped mounds as a way to replicate the contours of the countryside and retain a form of compartmentalisation for purpose of privacy.

·                The design was such, in order to be flexible enough to accommodate and allow for the future building of a crematorium, an aspirational wish of North Hertfordshire District Council.

In answer to the Chairman in respect of environment aspects, The Service Manager – Greenspace confirmed that the potential of the cemetery was not just of a commercial nature and that farmland could and would be landscaped for a more appropriate environment.  With the crematorium development on the horizon, NHDC had terminated their lease agreement with the farmer and were now on an annual rolling programme.  This provided for ease of moving forward to link in with cemetery provision.

The following Members asked questions, which however, could only be answered under Part II conditions:

Councillor Sam Collins;

Councillor Carol Stainer; and

Councillor David Levett.

Audio Recording – 44 Minutes (8.14pm)

At this point the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee moved the meeting into Part II discussion, (see Minute 47).

RESOLVED:  That the information provided by the Service Manager – Greenspace and The Legal Commercial Team Manager regarding the proposed crematorium at Wilbury Hills be noted.