Plan for new crematorium on farmland branded ‘inappropriate’

Nicholas Thomas, local democracy reporter

Plans to build a new crematorium on farmland have been quashed.

Newport council planners said the proposals for the farmland, near Castleton, would have led to the loss of agricultural land and would have piled pressure on rural roads.

The applicant, Castleton Park Ltd, had also proposed creating new vehicle access, car parking, and memorial parkland at the site, off Pen Y Lan Road.

Planning agent Carolyn Jones, of Carolyn Jones Planning Services, said existing crematorium facilities in the region were not “within acceptable journey times” for mourners from western Newport or eastern Cardiff.

“The proposed location would meet the needs of these communities and a more local service free from capacity constraints,” she wrote in a planning statement.

Objections

Yet the proposals for the new crematorium were opposed by dozens of residents who filed objections with the city council.

They claimed there was “unsuitable access” to the proposed site, and raised concerns about the “capacity of the local highway network”.

Objectors also raised the “loss of green space” and agricultural land, and said “need has not been established” – something Ms Jones disputed.

Outweighed

At a meeting of Newport City Council’s planning committee, on Wednesday, planning officer Adam Foote said his department was “not satisfied that there was an overriding need for a facility of this nature”.

Even if there was evidence of a need for the crematorium, it would be “outweighed” by the potential loss of farmland, he said.

Mr Foote judged the proposed crematorium to be an “unjustified, inappropriate and unsustainable development in the countryside”.

He also said many of the roads leading to the site were single-track lanes used by farm vehicles.

‘Non-viable’

Caroline Hill, speaking on behalf of local objectors to the plans, called the development a “non-viable option in the short- and long term”.

Ms Jones, speaking at the meeting, said she was “extremely disappointed” with the officers’ reasons for recommending refusal, and believed any highways issues “can be overcome”.

Mr Foote told the committee the Welsh Government had also weighed in on the proposals, telling the council that if it approved planning permission, the matter would be referred to ministers to make a final decision.

The committee agreed with the council’s planning officers, however, and refused to grant permission for the development.