Majority support Watermead Crematorium...

Majority support Watermead crematorium, say company building it

The company behind a new crematorium in Aylesbury say 61% support the project.

Westerleigh are building the Watermead crem and say any more delays will put off funerals until after Christmas.

They say a poll shows supporters outweigh those against 5-to-1.

Three years on from the original permission, its opening has been delayed by a series of legal challenges from Watermead Parish Council.

Aylesbury's planning committee is required by an Appeal Court ruling this March to redetermine the application as soon as possible.

Westerleigh, the owner of the new crematorium, has written to Councillors urging them to re-approve the plans at the planning committee meeting scheduled for 22 November, or else bereaved families will be facing another Winter of long delays, with funerals having to be put off until after Christmas.

Richard Evans, Managing Director of Westerleigh, said:

"Delaying funerals for local people who have suffered bereavement would be a heartless thing to do.

"We have had this facility ready since May, and it is vital that it opens for the busy funeral period over the winter."

The nearest local crematorium is at Amersham but it is the second busiest in the country. Like other crematoria at Milton Keynes and Oxford, getting to Amersham in a funeral cortege also takes well over half an hour.

Mr Evans added:

"We know from independently collected evidence that the vast majority of residents from Aylesbury and surrounding villages support the opening of the new crematorium at Watermead."

Westerleigh today published an opinion poll which showed that across the Aylesbury Vale District, the majority of people want permission to be granted for the new crematorium at Watermead to open.

In the poll 61% of people said that Aylesbury Vale District Council should give permission for the crematorium at Watermead to open, while just 12 % said that permission should be refused and the crematorium demolished; while 27% offered no opinion. Supporters outnumber objectors by more than 5 to 1.

Mr Evans said:

"The opening of this new crematorium will come as a massive relief to funeral directors and bereaved families throughout the Aylesbury area."

 

Taken from Mix96 Local News