Plans approved for new cemetery in Torfaen

Plans have been approved for a £1.7 million cemetery in Torfaen.

A Torfaen Council application to open a new cemetery, Llwyncelyn, in Cwmbran was rubber stamped at a planning meeting yesterday.

Plans for the Hollybush Heights site were drawn up because there is only three years capacity left in the Council's current cemetery, Panteg in New Inn.

Work is due to start this year with the aim of opening it in 2010/11.

Green burials and more conventional ceremonies will be offered at the Council-owned site.

The cemetery will also include woodland and meadow areas which can be used for leisure activities by the local community.

Councillor John Cunningham, Executive Member for Operational Services, said: "We are confident that we will create a very peaceful, unique site and we are pleased with the way local residents have helped shape the plans."

Last year, after listening to residents' views during a public exhibition, the Council agreed to move the access road into the site.

The road will now be built across Council-owned land to the east of Hollybush View rather than the original proposal through a housing estate at Cefn Milwr.

Further public consultation, via a competition, saw Llwyncelyn, Welsh for Hollybush, picked as the name for the site.

"From the outset we were willing to listen to local residents' and ward members' views so we could form a better understanding of local issues," said Councillor Cunningham.

"The way we consulted won national praise thanks to the residents who gave us their views."

The Council's consultation over the cemetery was hailed as best practice during a recent Charter Mark assessment.