A Ribble Valley cemetery could be extended into an adjoining field – with a section for Muslim burials created too.
Ribble Valley Council’s Health & Housing Committee is being asked to decide whether the current operational part of Clitheroe’s Waddington Road Cemetery should remain strictly non-denominational or if this system should stop, to allow for religious grouping.
The Waddington Road cemetery is the only operational council-owned burial site in the Ribble Valley and has been used since 1861. Services there provide for traditional burials, woodland burials and burial of cremated remains.
In the late 1990s, the borough council extended the cemetery to provide additional space. This newer area is currently designated as non-denominational, so does not have any restrictions to particular religions or denominations within faiths.
Grave plots are currently sold systematically, typically moving from one plot to the next. The process is simple to manage and makes efficient use of available space, according to a report for councillors. However, the old, historic part of the cemetery, which is now full, had specific areas for Roman Catholic, Methodist and Church of England denominations.
Regarding future space, the report states: “There is currently space in the operational part of the cemetery for 180 burial plots and 90 ashes plots. it will take around seven or eight years to fill these. There are 25 spaces left in the woodland area.”
An adjoining field, bought in 2011 by the council, is 7.7 acres in size and would allow for around 800 graves per acre. To progress its development , a planning application would be needed, looking at details such as drainage, ground water, environmental issues and cemetery design.
Separately, Ribble Valley Council has been contacted by local Muslim representatives, requesting a Muslim burial area for around 60 plots, the report adds.
There would be additional costs associated with Muslim burial areas, such as different spacing of plots and the need for hand-mowing of grass to avoid vehicles crossing plots. However, extra costs would be recovered through specific fees.
The report adds: “The requesters say that there is currently nowhere in the Ribble Valley borough suitable for Muslim burials. So local Muslim residents have to be interred in cemeteries in neighbouring authorities such as Blackburn, Hyndburn and Pendle, where dedicated Muslim burial areas exist.”
According to the 2021 Census, the population in the Ribble Valley was 61,907 and 1.3 per cent of resodents are Muslim, just under 800 people, according to the report.
Councillors are being asked to consider current and future arrangemenbts. This includes whether up to 60 Muslim graves can be reserved in the current operational part or if an area for Muslim burials can be designed in new extension plans.
Also, councillors have to decide if Muslim graves can be dug perpendicularly to face the east, so the head of the interred, deceased person faces Mecca. Also, if a border, such as a path or a line of shrubs, can be used to separate the Muslim section.
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