Road plan criticised in £4.5m Darlington cemetery proposals

On Friday night, people living close to the crematorium met Jenny Chapman, who is defending her Labour-held Darlington seat in the December general election, to air their concerns about the proposals to separate the chapel from the crematorium, and to create a new exit road.

Pond Field Close, where the proposed new exit road from the cemetery would turn into Picture: SARAH CALDECOTT

Darlington Borough Council say the cemetery no longer meets modern-day requirements and it wants to replace the cremators and build a new chapel in the field at the west end of the cemetery, which is off Carmel Road South, on a section of land identified for future burials.

The proposals also include a new road running along the south of Hummersknott Gardeners’ allotments, through to Pond Field Close, exiting onto Salutation Road, which would allow a one-way system to be introduced, minimising the issues currently caused by parking and traffic flow through the cemetery. The council also intends to redevelop the existing chapel to create a bereavement service office.

At a meeting of the council’s Cabinet meeting last month, a recommendation was passed to progress with proposals to re-develop the existing facilities.

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On Friday, about 70 people attended the meeting with Ms Chapman. Michael Hellen, who lives in Salutation Road, said after discussions between residents of Baydale Road, Salutation Road and allotment holders, an action plan was formulated.

He said: “There were three things really that people were concerned about. The first is the lack of dignity involved in separating the cremators from the chapel. We were also concerned about the traffic from the cemetery turning into the narrow confines of Pond Field Close, which is usually busy with parked cars, and then on to Salutation Road, another busy road.

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“At the meeting, people were also concerned about the consultation process and felt we had not been kept informed of developments.”

The council is hosting a consultation drop-in session tomorrow, from noon until 7pm at the Dolphin Centre to give people the opportunity to make comments on the proposals.

Speaking at Cabinet meeting last night, Cllr Stephen Harker said: “I think there is some confusion among residents about what the consultation is about. When the matter came before Cabinet there were three options presented and members correctly went for one option in particular. I get the impression residents are under the impression that the consultation is about those three options. There is also some concern being raised about what is being seen as an additional journey which will be in place post-cremation service.”

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Council officers responded that the options for Darlington Crematorium were debated at the council’s scrutiny committee before being considered by Cabinet members.

A council spokesman said: “To be clear the drop-in session on Thursday is to talk about the option that was presented and recommended at the last Cabinet.”

The spokesman confirmed that the consultation would close on November 21 and people could use the drop-in event to find out more details and could also email comments to Capital.ProjectsOffice@darlington.gov.uk