This consultation has now closed.

Below are options which have been ruled out of the running for a new cemetery in Loughborough.

Hathern agricultural land (off Shepshed Road)

This is a 7.5 hectare site which would need a new lengthy access road across land the council does not own. It would also need a new depot and facilities including parking.

There is no public transport to and from Loughborough and as the site is elevated it would be exposed to the weather, is highly visible and the terrain may prove unsuitable for less able residents

DDA compliant footpaths and service roads would also need to be developed at an appropriate slope angle.

The Council does not consider this site to be deliverable at this time.

Allotment land

The Council own and maintain nine allotment sites within Loughborough. The only allotment in the Council's ownership which could offer enough potential space for a cemetery site is the combined area of Mountfields (1.56ha) & Beacon Road (0.5ha), off Forest Road. The Council decided at an early stage to remove allotments from the study due to the demand for allotment sites and benefits they provide to local residents.

Sports Grounds

The Council maintains three sports ground at Derby Road (13.5ha), Nanpantan (5.3ha) and Lodge Farm (3.5ha). Both Nanpantan and Derby Road are owned by the Council whilst Lodge Farm is leased from the County Council.

Derby Road sports ground – prone to seasonal flooding and the land was not considered suitable for a cemetery during initial surveys.

Nanpantan sports ground - more than half the site is designated as zone 2 flood risk. For this reason, the site was not considered suitable for a cemetery and excluded from the T1 surveys.

Lodge Farm sports ground – as the site is not owned by the borough council and is within a river corridor it was not considered suitable for a cemetery.

A6 Corridor

Suggestions that the Council should look at the abundance of pasture/agricultural land along the A6 corridor for a potential cemetery site were also investigated. Unfortunately, the entire A6 corridor has a high flood risk, as categorised by the Environment Agency flood zone map. As such no development would be allowed within the majority of the corridor and any proposed cemetery development would almost certainly fail any site assessments.

Other agricultural land

Desktop research identified that there is a limitation of sites as some are already earmarked for developing including housing and a science park. In addition, land which is not prone to flooding and not within the Council ownership would also be expensive if it has the potential to be developed in the future.

Last updated: Mon 24th September, 2018 @ 09:24