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Cemeteries running out of space
4:00am Saturday 10th May 2008
Comments (3)SOUTHEND could run out of burial space within the next seven years because the town's cemetery is nearly full, it has been warned.
Councillors are looking at a series of options, including re-using old graves at the cemetery in Sutton Road, or finding a new burial site in the borough.
The council has set aside £2.3million over the next three years to look in detail at plans to create more space for burials.
Brian Kelly, Tory councillor responsible for bereavement services, said: "We could find some suitable land and buy it, but we really haven't got anywhere in mind for a new cemetery at the moment.
"The other option is to reuse the very old areas of our existing cemeteries, by re-burying the original bodies lower down and putting new ones on top.
"The cemetery in Sutton Road has been in use for more than 100 years, so it's possible some of the oldest bodies could be reburied without causing anyone offence."
Another solution would be to increase the number of cremations.
Laurie Yarham, registrar for Basildon Crematorium in Church Road, Pitsea, said far more people are already being cremated than buried.
He said: "I think only something like only ten to 15 per cent of people are being buried.
"For example, we deal with about 1,800 cremations a year, but the cemetery next door only buries about 200."
The first cremation took place in Britain in 1885.
The number of cremations overtook burials for the first time in 1968.
Mr Yarham said: "Local councils largely took over burials, when the church graveyards ran out of space.
"Now the council cemeteries are running out of room, too.
"A certain number of people still want to be buried, rather than cremated, so other solutions will have to be found."
In Basildon the solution, at least in the short term, has been for the private sector to step in.
Crematoria Management has just opened a new ten-acre site next to Basildon Crematorium, which it also runs.
It will allow burials there, as well as memorials for people who have been cremated, which has eased the pressure on Basildon Council to solve a looming burial crisis.
A private company also stepped in on Canvey when Willow Funeral Directors opened the Northwick Cemetery, in Northwick Road.
Ray Howard, county councillor for Canvey, said: "I suppose all of us have to recognise we will have to go sometime and fortunately there aren't really any worries about burials in Canvey today.
"A lot of people from Castle Point still opt for Basildon Crematorium, as it has a lovely view of the estuary and the western part of Canvey."
There have been concerns increases in cremations could be bad for the environment, because of all the gases pumped into the air when bodies burn.
Mr Yarham added: "We have a very sophisticated filtration system to stop most gases.
"New regulations will also stop the emission of mercury into the atmosphere, which comes when bodies are burned."
Environmentally friendly burials have been introduced at Herongate Wood, near Brent- wood.
Most people are buried there in easily degradable woven bamboo coffins and sappling trees are planted around the bodies.
Ray Ward, from Woodland and Wildlife Conservation which runs the new age cemetery, said: "We were inspired by the native American Indians, who believe we didn't inherit the land from our ancestors, we are borrowing it from our grandchildren.
"One day these trees will grow up into a fully fledged wood, which will create a beautiful landscape for generations to come."
Your Say YourEcho
John Cheek, Rayleigh says...
6:05pm Sat 10 May 08
evilc, essex says...
7:22am Sun 11 May 08
And the current residents either move away or take up permanent residency forever there.
Brian Kelly says Southend Council has no plans for a new cemetery
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Margaret Stoll, Rochford says...
4:34pm Sat 10 May 08
I can't imagine anything nicer than this site. It's so peaceful. I like the principles behind 'green burials'. It's important to point out, however, that the WWCC also acts as funeral directors, and you'll find that a burial takes place much more quickly than we have grown used to in recent years. Embalming fluids are not used so burial must not be delayed too long. There's a hall on the site where services of any denomination can be held, and also a social get-together afterwards in whatever form you want.
I've attended quite a few funerals of different kinds, have visited different cemeteries, and I feel very strongly that everyone should plan ahead and make their wishes known to their nearest and dearest. We've informed our solicitor, and a leaflet about the Herongate Wood site is kept with our wills.
I've had to arrange several funerals, I've found that it's easier if the wishes of the deceased were known. There are so many options nowadays. Burial or cremation, church service or no service, hymns or no hymns, flowers or a donation to charity, limousines or own cars? It's a terrible time for the bereaved to have to make these decisions. Many people seem to think automatically of cremation, but it may not have been what the deceased would want.
We recently attended a funeral in Portsmouth. Because of a huge backlog at the crematorium there, the poor man had been dead for nearly 3 weeks before he could be cremated, so presumably he was kept in a freezer until then. Not a very nice thought for his family and loved ones.
Many years ago I walked in on an argument between my mother and my aunt - the 2 people who brought me up. They were arguing about the relative merits of burial vs cremation and the argument got quite heated. Up to then I had never really thought about it. We lived in a village, and most people were buried in the churchyard. That was what my aunt wanted. She said she couldn't imagine a more peaceful resting-place - the trees, the birds, the flowers, and absolute peace. My mother disagreed, and wanted cremation.
Well, I had the job of arranging both their funerals - my mother in 1975 and my aunt in 1985. I made sure they both got what they'd said they wanted. My mother didn't say what she wanted done following cremation, but I arranged to have her ashes buried in the family grave in that country churchyard, and there are now 3 generations of my family buried in that one spot. And as my aunt said, it couldn't be more peaceful.