Royston Town Council completes purchase of land for cemetery
Royston Town Council office - Credit: Archant
A NEW cemetery for Royston moved nearer to becoming a reality, after the town council completed the purchase of land where it will be built.
Royston Town Council confirmed this week that it has bought the the 1.7 acre site at Wicker Hall, a former orchard, and will now press ahead with its plan for another cemetery, as the current one in Melbourn Road has almost reached its capacity.
The council has already been granted planning permission for the cemetery by North Herts District Council.
Royston mayor Cllr Bob Smith, said: “A significant hurdle has now been cleared, and we can move on to the next stage, which is getting a designer to draw up some detailed plans for the cemetery.”
At a meeting of the town council’s finance committee on Monday night, councillors proposed to spend £3,900 on design work, as well as a topographical survery of a bridleway that leads to the site.
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The whole project is likely to cost more than £100,000, and though the council has not revealed how much it paid for the land, it received an anonymous donation of £25,000 to help fund the purchase.
With the Melbourn Road cemetery set to run out of space in the next eight-10 years, Royston residents had faced the prospect of having to use the Wilbury Hills cemetery in Letchworth GC.
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This led to the town council beginning its search for a new site in Royston, and Cllr Smith believes that it will be of great benefit to the town’s people.
He said: “We carried out extensive public consultation last year, and more than 80 per cent of people were in favour of us providing this facility, so we believe it is something the town wants.”
nWhat do you think? Does Royston need a new cemetery?
email postbag@royston-crow.co.uk.
