Burial site extension set for refusal
Plans to extend a woodland burial site are set to be refused over concerns about the impact on the surrounding environment.
The directors of South Shropshire Remembrance Park, at Upper Stanway Farm in Rushbury, want to expand the site due to an increase in demand, but Shropshire Council’s trees and ecology teams have objected to the application.
The plans will be decided by the council’s southern planning committee next week, and officers have recommended permission be refused.
A report to members says the burial site has been operating since 2003 and has a reception building, visitor facilities and parking.
The site lies on the slopes of Wenlock Edge, and is within the Shropshire Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and The Yeld Local Wildlife Site.
An ecological appraisal prepared by Greenscape Environmental said that while the area had indicators of ancient woodland, no trees would be lost as a result of the plans and mitigation and careful management would ensure a “net ecological gain”.
Despite this, ecology and trees officers said they could not support the application in the absence of a full environmental impact assessment (EIA).
The trees team said the scheme “would result in the erosion/ fragmentation of priority habitat, removing it from its current land use type without offering any sustainable compensation”.
Ecology officers said: “The presence of the two species of ancient woodland indicator (AWI)... suggests there has been continuity of woodland cover on the site for some time and although it is noted that the trees present are proposed to be retained through the change of use, woodland habitats are not merely areas of tree cover, but also include clearings and more importantly, the woodland soil.”
Rushbury Parish Council has not objected to the plans and there have been no public submissions.
The planning officers’ report concludes: “The proposed development would have an unacceptable and harmful impact on important woodland and its priority habitat and would fail to protect or enhance the environmental asset.
“Although there would be no overriding concerns in terms of wider visual and highways impacts or residential amenity, the development would result in the loss or deterioration of irreplaceable habitats and the benefits of the scheme would not outweigh the harm introduced.”
The application will be decided by the planning committee next Tuesday, August 10.
