Work progressing on Wellingborough's new crematorium ahead of July opening date

Wellingborough’s new £5.5 million crematorium is taking shape on the 11-acre site near Great Doddington.

The roof has now gone on, the walls are due to go up soon and everything is currently on course for the planned opening date.

Leader of Wellingborough Council Paul Bell said: “It will be opening in July.”

The new crematorium will have a chapel with 120 seats and a car park with 98 spaces.

There will also be a waiting room and washing facilities, as well as screens so people can watch the service even if space is limited in the main chapel.

The site also allows room for expansion in the future if it is deemed that an extra crematorium and a second chapel are needed.

Plans for a crematorium for the borough were first discussed back in 2011 and planning permission was granted in January last year.

Cllr Bell said there had been a full consultation with undertakers from the area and people from different faiths to ensure the crematorium could provide the services needed by people in the borough.

The crematorium has been paid for with money from Wellingborough Council’s capital budget, which is money in the bank saved for large projects that benefit the community.

Capital funds can’t be used by law for the running of day-to-day services, but any income generated from capital projects can help fund related services.

The crematorium will be run by Wellingborough Bereavement Services, which has advertised for a crematorium manager and registrar and the interviews are due to take place soon.

The job advert says: “Wellingborough has embarked on an exclusive project to build a very modern and new crematorium for the local community which is due to open in the summer of 2016.

“This is one of a number of exciting projects that the council has undertaken to lead the way to continuing financial stability and as such will be a commercial operation run by a wholly owned local authority trading company.

“There is now a fantastic opportunity for an experienced crematorium manager to be involved from the start of this exciting and challenging project.”

The crematorium is being built by construction company Wates, which has said it will use local craftsmen as much as possible.