New plans for burial provision in Redditch

More burials are to be carried out in an existing cemetery in Redditch, extending burial provision in the town by ten years.

Councillors at Tuesday’s (March 11) meeting of Redditch Borough Council’s Executive Committee resolved to repurpose an open part of the Abbey Cemetery, next to Redditch Crematorium, as new burial space.

The council will now also explore new options for longer-term burial provision in the borough, after councillors had cancelled a previous plan for a new cemetery on Ipsley Church Lane.

Redditch Borough Council’s Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services, Cllr Sharon Harvey, said: “We promised to make a fresh new plan for future burial provision in Redditch and we are delivering on that promise. It’s a very emotive question and, while we all agree on the need to create new provision, we must find an answer that our communities are able to support.

“In making this choice we must also acknowledge the seriousness and sensitivity of the issue. There will be families who, over the years, have used some of that open space at the Abbey Cemetery to scatter loved ones’ ashes, and to anyone who feels they will be directly affected by this change, I want to say this: please come and talk to us. We want to work with you to ensure that your needs are met, including considering new memorial features to honour those loved ones.”

Committee members also agreed to commission a review of the potential for a site off Battens Drive, north of Morrisons, to be used for burial provision in the long term, and to recommend to the full Council that the issue of new burial provision be incorporated into Redditch’s next Local Plan.

The Leader of the Council, Cllr Joe Baker, added: “Many people in Redditch opposed the previous administration’s proposals to build on Ipsley Meadows. We have listened and put a stop to that, and other options for the longer term will now be properly considered.”