New cemetery consultation launched

Consultation on the site of a new cemetery is to begin on Monday (14 November) after the Council revealed the preferred option for its location.

Following months of research, Denehurst Park on Edenfield Road has emerged as the favoured option, with the council planning to convert a small section of the park pending the results of the consultation.

The council has been searching for a suitable site for some months, with over 60 sites being considered. Most of these sites have proven to be unsuitable, with four previous options being ruled out following discussions with local communities and landowners.

But the council says that public feedback proved invaluable and the environmental management team have used the views expressed in those previous consultations to narrow down the options to the Denehurst Park site.

Council Leader, Councillor Colin Lambert, said: “The overwhelming view which came across in previous consultations was that residents wanted the council to use land which it already owned and to avoid building on greenbelt, and the Denehurst site ticks both of these boxes.

“This option would save a considerable amount of public money which would otherwise have been spent buying private land to develop. The Council will be looking to further consult local residents on how to use some of the savings to make improvements to the rest of the park.”

The proposed site would see the cemetery being built on a small section, comprising 2.5 hectares of the park, which covers 9.6 hectares in all.

The team also considered Denehurst park to be a good potential site because of its close proximity to the current Rochdale Cemetery and the fact that it is well served by transport links.

There are already four in cemeteries in the borough, in Dearnley, Heywood, Rochdale and Middleton. The Council has invested in new extension sites to three cemeteries. Space is beginning to run out in Rochdale cemetery and this site cannot be extended any further.

The Rochdale cemetery can be reorganised to accommodate more graves for the immediate future, but the council needs a longer term solution to the problem and the new cemetery is expected to give the borough 20 more years worth of burial space.

Councillor Martin Burke, Cabinet Member for Internal and Environmental Services, said: “This is an issue of huge importance to our borough, so we would encourage as many people as possible to get involved in the consultation.

“We’re really positive about the potential of this site. We’re looking to build a neat, modern cemetery which will be part of a much improved park which will serve the community for many years to come.”

Residents in the area have already been informed by letter and those people directly overlooking the proposed site will be visited by the team.

Nearby sites, including Oulderhill School, Greave Community Centre, Spotland Library, Rochdale Golf Club, St Clement’s Church and local businesses have also been informed.

The environmental services team will be holding a number of public meetings over the coming months and residents are also invited to visit the council’s website for more information and to feed back their views.

The consultation findings will be reported to the Cabinet next March. If the proposal is approved by the Cabinet it will then be submitted to the planning department for approval and a further public consultation will then take place before a final decision is made.
People can feed into the consultation at www.rochdale.gov.uk/consultations and printed consultation packs can also be requested by emailing newcemetery@rochdale.gov.uk or by writing to: Rochdale Borough Council, Environmental Management, New Cemetery Consultation, Green Lane, Heywood, Lancs OL10 2DY.