Council criticised as cemetery runs out of plots

Gayton Road Cemetery in King's Lynn only has 55 available plots and could run out next year

A council has been criticised for acting "too late" to address the issue of a town running out of space to bury its dead.

Gayton Road Cemetery in King's Lynn has just 55 viable plots remaining, and West Norfolk Council expects it to be full by next year.

At a meeting of the council's environment and community panel, Labour member Deborah Heneghan asked why investigations to find new cemetery plots in the town were only just beginning, despite the problem being known "for some time".

Simon Ring, leader of the independent coalition-controlled authority, acknowledged the issue was a "can that has been kicked down the road" but added: "We are grasping this nettle and we are dealing with it now."

He said there were available plots at Hunstanton Cemetery and at other sites near King's Lynn, including South Wootton.

'Non-compliant'

On average, 30 people a year are buried at the King's Lynn cemetery, which could be closed on 1 April 2026.

Rising groundwater levels have caused problems and now more than half of its 5,400 plots are "non-compliant" with Environment Agency regulations.

Its capacity was reviewed in 2009 and 2018, and efforts to find an alternative burial site renewed in 2024. However, none was identified.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said officers were reviewing other suitable locations in the area, including an adjacent allotment deemed unsuitable due to high groundwater levels.

No other suitable sites have been identified within King's Lynn itself but 44 other cemetery sites within the borough will be reassessed.

It could take until 2029 before a new cemetery is opened for burials.

At the meeting on 2 September, Heneghan said Hunstanton would not be "entirely acceptable".

She said: "It is incredibly comforting for people to go and visit a grave... This has obviously been a problem we have known about for some time and I'm really worried it has been left this late."

Conservative councillor Brian Long said: "The timescales are far too long. We need to be able to bury people in the interim."

Councillors voted to recommend the authority urgently review all sites and find a suitable solution "as quickly as possible", to be discussed at a cabinet meeting on 23 September.