Green light for Corby cemetery extension as it's revealed town could only have ONE YEAR of space left

The cemetery is only a year away from being full

A new cemetery for Corby will see 3,000 more burial plots provided in the town.

Councillors gave the scheme the nod after hearing that there had been a largely positive reaction to a public consultation.

The town has only one to two years of space left at the Shire Lodge Cemetery in Rockingham Road and the extra plots are expected to last between 20 and 30 years.

So councillors commissioned a study by a firm of planning consultants to help them come up with a new strategy. Their scheme will include a memorial garden and a dedicated space for Muslim burials.

There were objections from local people who were concerned about the proximity to homes in Humber Walk and adjoining streets.

And Sport England had objected to the loss of the sports pitches.

Officers' efforts to move the cemetery away from housing were hampered by a long lease signed years ago by Corby Gaelic Football Club, which didn't want to give up its pitch.

Planning consultant Lance Wiggins, acting on behalf of the applicant Corby Council, said: "The future capacity for burials in the borough is down to one to two years. Capacity is under increased pressure due to the ongoing pandemic.

"The scheme was generally well-received."

He added that there would be a strip of compensatory open space available for the use of the general public. The loss of the sports pitch had been discussed with Sport England and problems overcome by improving existing pitches and the provision of new pitches in the future.

Cllr Jean Addison said: "The elephant on this site is the Gaelic football pitch which if we'd been able to negotiate that we could have moved the cemetery into that space and that would have left a bigger buffer zone."

"My concerns are about drainage. I know this site farily well and it does get flooded. Can we be assured adequate drainage will be put into the site?"

Cllr Anthony Dady asked whether there were further new cemetery sites being looked at, including one at Lowry Close.

The plan was unanimously passed by councillors. No date for the commencement of work has yet been announced.