Plans go forward for Oswestry crematorium

Crematoria developer Westerleigh says the new site near Nesscliffe will ease the pressure on services in Shrewsbury and Wrexham.

The company claims the new building will relieve funeral congestion at existing crematoriums, with many families currently having to wait longer than three weeks for a funeral.

In a planning statement, the developer said the demand was heightened by the fact more older people were retiring to the area than younger people moving out.

"While life expectancy within the district may be higher than the national average an increasing population of older people can add to the burden on the capacity of existing crematoria facilities that currently serve the area," it said.

"It can therefore be argued that the provision of a new facility will help to ease that burden as well as serving a large percentage of the local population with a crematorium within a 30-minute drive time for the very first time."

The application site lies between Holyhead Road – the old A5 – and the current A5, nine miles to the north west of Shrewsbury and nine miles to the south east of Oswestry.

Funeral directors have long complained that existing facilities in the area can often be congested with different groups of mourners overlapping, and have been supportive of the plans since they were unveiled.

But views were mixed when more than 100 members of the public had their say on the proposals at an exhibition in September.

When established, the new crematorium for Oswestry would in time host an average of around four funerals per day.