Cemetery Capacity Issues Across Cornwall Including Pendeen
Cemetery capacity issues across Cornwall, including Pendeen are in the spotlight this week. I have an unusual situation where conversations on a local issue coincide with an agenda item at a meeting in Truro.
Cemetery Capacity Cornwall on the Housing and Environment PAC Agenda on Friday 29 July.
BACKGROUND TO LOCAL SITUATION
Just to remind people of the background, if you have not been following this local story. Back last autumn, I was asked by members of our local Cemetery Committee to discuss the now urgent matter of running out of burial places in Pendeen. At that stage there were 10 places left. This led to my calling and chairing a public meeting to find out if people were bothered whether they were buried in Pendeen, St Just or Penzance. The meeting, in the Parish Rooms, on 6 October 2015 suggested they were ‘bothered’ with comments like past generations of their family had been buried in Pendeen and that is where they wanted their own and their childrens’ resting places to be. Then, in January this year, a local farmer offered to donate land. This was kept quiet whilst some very early enquiries were made to assess the potential of some of the land to become a cemetery and then on 26 July 2016, the public were invited to ponder the idea.
LINKS TO THE LOCAL BACK STORY
BACKGROUND TO CORNWALLWIDE STORY
Last year I also became aware that there was concern Cornwallwide that burial places would run out if no action was taken. Estimates suggest no burial places would be left by 2035 although some communities and areas would run out long before. On Friday the Housing and Environment Policy Advisory Committee (PAC), that I am now Vice Chair of, has to consider this difficult and sensitive issue. Like the Church, there is no legal duty for Cornwall Council to act. The reports the committee has to ponder are available below for anyone to read in full. Next week, I will report the next steps and how that might affect Pendeen.
Cemetery Report Housing & Environment PAC on 29 July plus full agenda and reports Full reports
PUBLIC MEETING ON 26 JULY 2016 AT POTENTIAL SITE FOR CEMETERY
Neighbours to the field expressed concerns about the choice of the part of the field being proposed for change of use to a cemetery. As no decisions had been made, further research and enquires will be made to gauge the suitability of other parts of the field and to find out about the tests the Environment Agency require. Hopefully, more than one location and different access points can be explored and presented as choices but this journey is likely to take time and there are only 4 burial places left. The cemetery committee will consider how a few additional spaces might be created to provide additional time.