District’s first green burial site is plotted
CROWLAND could offer South Holland’s first ever green burial site, but parish councillors exploring the idea say it is too early to say whether the project will get the final go-ahead.
The parish council is looking at providing new burial grounds as grave spaces at Crowland Abbey are likely to have been used by the end of the next decade.
Coun David Kempton, who chairs the parish council planning committee, said the council owns land on the eastern side of the town close to the A16 and the site is being considered both for a traditional burial ground and a green burial ground.
Green burial grounds have no headstones and are usually set in woodlands or meadows, catering for burial and interment or scattering of ashes.
According to Lincolnshire County Council, the county currently has just four green burial sites at Alford, Owmby-by-Spital near Market Rasen, Gainsborough and Grantham.
There’s also a site just outside Stamford at Ketton Park in the county of Rutland.
Coun Kempton said parish councillors have done some internet research on green burial sites and he understands there are about 200 in the country.
He says there may be some site visits to green burial grounds elsewhere before the parish council progresses anything further.
Coun Kempton said: “It’s in the very early stages.
“The planning committee was charged with the opening up of a new cemetery because the existing churchyard cannot be expanded and it will fill up probably in about ten years’ time.
“It’s not something that’s urgent.
“Having done a bit of research, there may be an opportunity to develop a green burial ground alongside a more conventional cemetery.
“There are no proposals at this stage we can even put before the parish council.”
He said members have not yet considered whether there will be requests from outside Crowland from families opting for a green rather than conventional burial.
Coun Kempton said he believes people who ask to be buried at Crowland Abbey generally have a connection to the town.
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