A PLAN to create a new crematorium will be debated by a planning committee next week.

The new facility would be at the playing fields at the former Blakeston School near Roseworth, close to the Tesco, near Norton.

It would be able to deal with 1,500 cremations a year, would employ six to eight staff and there would 120 car spaces.

A final decision won’t be made at Stockton Borough Council’s planning committee because Sajid Javid, secretary of state for Communities and Local Government, has already said he wants to consider the application if the committee is minded to approve.

The council wants to create the crematorium because population is increasing in the borough and most families use Teesside Crematorium in Middlesbrough. It’s estimated that the population will increase from more than 194,000 at the present time, to between 213,000 and 216,000 by 2033.

It is expected that 1,000 cremations a year would take place at the new facility but only 750 would be needed for it to be viable. It is thought the crematorium would eventually be created by a private developer.

Serious objections were raised by Sport England about the loss of playing fields. However the body has withdrawn its objection after discussions with council officers who have outlined a Playing Pitch Strategy which would eventually increase play facilities across the borough.

Four other objections have been received by the council. John Latimer argued the area should be open, public space. More housing planned for the area would lead to even greater demand for playing pitches.

Susan Latimer argued it was not an appropriate site and a crematorium would be better in a, “pleasanter, countryside setting way from commercial activity.”

She said: “I lived at Rudyard Avenue, Roseworth, from the 1950s to 1970s and my childhood memories of the playing field that Stockton Borough Council now wishes to benefit from its sales value to a private developer of crematoria is that I and other children used it as an adventure play area where we made dens. This field should be retained a public space.”

Cllr David Wilburn has also been quoted in the planning officer’s report. He said a matron at the nearby University Hospital of North Tees had raised concerns that corteges would slow traffic and make it harder for ambulances to get to the hospital quickly.

However council officers recommended approval. The application will be debated on Wednesday, August 17 at Stockton Library at 1.30pm.