Conservative-led West Lindsey District Council is seeking the views of local residents about plans to develop a crematorium in the district.

West Lindsey's Conservatives pledged to investigate the possibility of developing a crematorium in the district in their 2015 manifesto, being aware of the lack of crematorium provision within the district and the distances residents have had to travel at often a sensitive and difficult time. To compound this, there are often long waiting times for services and cremations to be held.

In June 2016 the council’s Corporate Policy and Resources Committee considered a business case to develop a crematorium in or around Gainsborough and approved the necessary capital budget to bring this development forward. The council has secured an option to purchase a site in Lea and has engaged with the necessary professional resources in order to draw up concept designs for the crematorium.  

Chairman of the council’s Prosperous Communities Committee Cllr. Mrs. Sheila Bibb said:

“We are now working towards an application for planning permission and would like to share our plans with the local community in order to get valuable feedback on the proposal.

“All feedback received will be analysed and used to finalise the design. We would like as many people as possible to come along and meet representatives of the council and the design team to find out more at a special consultation event to be held later this month.”

The consultation event will be held on Tuesday, 19th September between 3pm and 7pm at Lea Village Hall, Rectory Lane, Lea, near Gainsborough, DN21 5JA. 

Alternatively individuals may also submit your feedback on the proposed scheme by visiting: www.west-lindsey.gov.uk/gainsboroughcrematorium. The consultation period is open until Sunday, 15th October.

The plans have been welcomed by Cllr. Lewis Strange, who represents the Kelsey Wold ward, he said:

“This will be a much needed addition to the services that West Lindsey district council supports.

“The council is determined to provide an appropriate facility in the district, which will provide a respectful goodbye to a loved one, in pleasant rural surroundings.

“I commend West Lindsey on this, it is much needed and received full support from all sides at full council.

“We hope it will receive whole-hearted support from everyone in the community at the consultation.”

Community and commercial programme manager Ms Karen Whitfield said there was a real community need to develop a crematorium in the area.

"Nationally, around 75% of funerals result in a cremation; that's not just down to the cost, it is the lack of burial space. Many areas of the district were running out of burial plots."

The new facility, which could hold up to 10 cremations a day, would also help cut waiting times, and take away the need for families to travel to Scunthorpe, Grimsby or Lincoln.

Mr. Carlton Bradley, senior director at local funeral directors Carlton Bradley & Sons, said families current found it a challenge to have a church service in Gainsborough, then travel out of town for the cremation. Having a local crematorium would make the whole day shorter, and help ease the financial burden for families on low incomes.

If approved, the new facility is expected to open in January 2020.