Cemetery decision ‘won’t be rushed’

Councillors have carried forward a motion regarding the search for a new cemetery site in the town.

The motion was agreed at a meeting of full council and the crux of it highlights and reaffirms that the council will bring in new sites following the withdrawal of four suggested sites and whilst consultation has been extended until September, it will be extended further if necessary.

The motion was carried forward following a long and exhausting deliberation in the council chamber which began with a Liberal Democrat motion to halt the entire process, create a proper consultation framework and start again in October.

The move comes after four of a suggested five sites were withdrawn because the landowners weren’t willing to sell their land.

The Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Councillor Wera Hobhouse, said the latest consultation was “absurd.”

She said: “No wonder that people in this borough are now deeply disturbed about the commitment to the council to establish a fair process. It really is beyond belief that officers and the Cabinet brought forward sites for consultation which were actually not for sale. It raises serious questions about the competence of this administration.

“It has wasted council resources and profoundly undermined public trust in the consultation process.”

Various issues were raised about the remaining site on Bury and Rochdale Old Road and the need to protect Green Belt Land.

However, the motion was amended three times and in essence completely re-written.

The motion reads: “The council regrets the withdrawal of 4 of the 5 sites from the consultation for the new Rochdale Cemetery site, solely due to landowners not being willing to sell the land to the council.

“There continues to be extensive consultation being undertaken with residents, local forums and action groups on the site at Bury and Rochdale Old Road plus a large number of comments and suggestions being submitted through the council’s website.

“The council welcomes the undertaking given by the Lead Officer for the Environment at the well-attended consultation meeting at Bamford Chapel on 14 July that the consultation period has now been extended until 16 September. He also gave assurance that this period can be extended as necessary.

“Council notes that it has already been confirmed that it would not be reasonable to progress through the consultation with  just a single site and the council is actively looking to bring forward additional sites as part of an extended consultation process, which has already been extended to 16 September 2011. This approach has been supported by local residents and action groups. This will ensure that any new sites whether in private or council ownership, can be fairly considered.

“Council resolves that authority to include additional sites into the current consultation process be delegated to the service director in consultation with the three party leaders. Once these additional sites have been identified there will be discussions with land owners, where appropriate, ward councillors and also local residents affected.

“Council also resolves to delegate extension of the current consultation process past 16 September 2011, should this be necessary, to the service director in consultation with the three party leaders.”

Councillor Martin Burke, Cabinet member for Internal and Environmental services, said: “The debate became confusing because of the silly behaviour of the Lib Dems, who belittled consultation. It is right that people who have responded to the consultation are listened to.

“If the Ccouncil had approved the Lib Dem motion, it would have meant the council had to ignore the comments made and start again.

“Let me reassure those who have responded to the consultation that despite attempts by the Lib Dems to stop their voices being heard we will reach a decision by taking the time needed to get it right and not allow any attempt to rush through a decision.”

The Leader of the Conservative Group, Councillor Ashley Dearnley, said: “We should not pause, the process should continue and take as long as necessary to come to a satisfactory outcome on this matter.”

When the final motion was carried forward, Councillor Hobhouse said she was “disgusted” and “disappointed” with how the matter had been handled. At which point, claps could be heard from the public gallery.