Setback for Town's Cemetery Provision
- On Monday this week a Houghton Regis Town Council committee met and concluded that a site owned by Central Bedfordshire Council in Houghton Regis would not be suitable for the town's needs as a cemetery. The Council will continue to search for other sites and to present these for initial consideration to CDS in due course.
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| Land at Grendall Lane, north of Houghton Regis Chalk Pit |
A report to the Council relayed back to the New Cemetery Sub-Committee said that contractors CDS had 'thoughts and concerns'.
- the northern half of the site being unsuitable under current statutory guidelines for a cemetery.
- the steeper southern sector of the site would be too steep without remedial work for burials to take place.
The Council is also working to try to find alternative land. Last July the Committee engaged a consultant to drill trial boreholes at the Grendall Lane site at a cost of between £13,750 to £16,750.
Houghton Regis Independent Councillor, Tracey McMahon, was one of the first to react to the decision to not proceed with Grendall Lane. In a post to her Facebook Page Tracey wrote, “Devastating news for any Houghton Regis residents that were hoping to be able to bury their loved ones in their own town!
“... Grendall Lane (the ONLY site available, the ONLY site half suitable, and the ONLY site to be GIFTED - as in FREE FROM CBC!), HRTC Lib Dem councillors overwhelmingly voted with their group leader, rather than with the resident's interests... to cease the project, and pay the cemetery consultant AGAIN to go and look for alternative sites, having had an explanation from the consultant that land is at a premium and that the landowners would be holding out for developer offers (housing land being more costly than agricultural/business, or cemetery!), and it would be unlikely that we'd be able to afford it
“... So now we're back to square one, having already paid for boreholes, and consultants, within touching distance of getting a new cemetery that would serve the old town as well as the new, with a population explosion expected to exceed Dunstable and be the largest town in Central Bedfordshire, with nowhere to bury our dead!”
CBC's Cllr Pat Hamill also commented on his Facebook Page, “[I] had been asking CBC officers to assist Houghton Regis Town Council by identifying suitable land for a new cemetery given the amount of development this town has had to absorb.
“I did say that the land off of Woodside Link should have gone alongside the investigations for Grendall Lane so two options were available but the council chose one path to go down in their wisdom. The land near the Frogmore area was suitable according to a CBC officer who suggested preparation to the land is all it would take in his opinion.
“Houghton Regis residents should have a burial site and if Grendall Lane is an option regardless of cost and restrictions, it seems the only logical way forward. To just wander on for another 10 years hoping to source suitable land is not a plan.”
HRND asked the Town Council to comment. We were advised, “the council have decided to issue press releases through our own social media channels only and will do this later today / tomorrow.”