Bosses behind new Shropshire crematorium vow to listen to villagers
Bosses behind plans to build a crematorium near a Shropshire village have said that resident's views will be listened to following a consultation.
Westerleigh, a company which develops and runs crematoria all over the UK held a pre-planning consultation in Nesscliffe on Tuesday ahead of potentially building a new crematorium on the edge of the village.
After a host of residents turned out to have their say, the company said it is hoping to lodge a planning application, with the intention of starting building in 2019.
Richard Evans, CEO of the company said the current plans are not final and will take concerns of local residents into consideration.
He said: "This is the first step ahead of a planning application.
"We want to hear residents concerns, and if things are raised we will look into them and we could make changes.
"We have been looking for suitable sites for around five to six years, and there has been a number of different sites looked at along the A5.
"This is the most suitable one, and we are hoping to soon put an application in and then hopefully start building in 2019."
The land will be developed with a building to host services, while the surrounding area will turned into parkland.
Privacy
The crematorium would host around four services per day that can last for one hour.
The news that Westerleigh wants to build the crematorium comes after calls from funeral directors for more to be built in the region.
The proposals have sparked some concern among locals about pollution and traffic issues, with the prospect of an increasing number of vehicles travelling through the village.
However Mr Evans said specific steps will be taken to address the issues.
He added: "What we will be advising is for funeral directors to use the A5 to access the crematorium, which means they won't go through the village and only come off the A5 briefly.
"We will also be advising people involved to do that."
Mr Evans said that the building would also be created to be discrete.
He said: "The area of the crematorium will be covered and not visible from the road, and that is what people want.
"They want some privacy and unless you're from the village you won't know it is there."
