5,000 new burial spaces for Willenhall in £1.2m plan

Walsall Council wants to extend Willenhall Lawn Cemetery to provide enough room for burials at the site for another 40 years.

It is expected to cost more than a million pounds, but work could be put on hold until next year because of funding.

It was agreed to allocate just over £100,000 to explore the feasibility of extending the site off Bentley Lane two years ago.

The project is currently listed as a reserve programme for 2015/16 by the cash-strapped council, which means it will only go-ahead within the next 12 months if further funds are secured.

Council chiefs have looked at taking action amid concerns over an impending shortage of burial space, which could see people go to North Walsall or Streetly cemeteries instead.

Walsall leisure chief, councillor Khizar Hussain, said: "The extension for Willenhall Lawn Cemetery has been added to the reserve list of the capital programme, together with a number of other schemes.

"The expansion of the cemetery is expected to provide around 5,000 burial spaces for the next 40 years.

"If funds are not approved during 2015/16 consideration will be given to including the scheme in the 2016/17 capital programme."

The council has already invested in improvements at Streetly Crematorium in previous years. Around £1.5m was allocated towards new cremators, extensive refurbishment and additional car parking.

Despite the need to make £86 million of savings over the next four years, the authority is looking to make investment where necessary. It has also dropped some controversial budget cuts such as charges for garden waste collections.

There has been a huge outcry against separate, privately operated plans for a new 8,000 cemetery elsewhere in the borough.

More than 1,200 names were collected on a petition in opposition to a £3m scheme in Aldridge Road, Walsall.

Initial plans for the scheme by Springhill Cemetery Group were rejected by the council and then thrown out by a planning inspector on appeal last summer. However, a revised scheme for the farm land was lodged for consideration.

People raised concerns over the change of use of the agricultural land as it was off a busy route.

There were worries it would lead to traffic problems and they were also concerned about the loss of green belt. Other concerns over the site have been that the land would be susceptible to flooding.