Two possible sites found for Stockton's next cemetery

Stockton's current cemetery on Durham Road has seven years of provision left

Two possible sites for a new cemetery have been found amid a lack of burial space, a council has said.

Stockton Council is looking for potential sites as the town's Durham Road cemetery has seven years of provision left.

The council's place select committee heard two contenders had been found with suitability assessments under way.

The authority said it was speaking to landowners, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Committee chairman Chris Dawson said: "I think there were two sites that have been identified quite early on.

"The first site was unregistered land. It's taken a while to figure out who actually owns the land. The council contacted the landowner and started off that kind of conversation.

"On the other site, there was just no response to council letters. Eventually there's been some correspondence with the landowner but it's been further delayed."

'Hopeful'

He said it was not an "overnight thing" with "a lot of work still to be done" but council officers "appreciated the urgency of the situation in terms of spaces".

Councillor Louise Baldock asked: "What happens if we get to a point where the existing cemetery provision in the town of Stockton has reached capacity before a new Stockton cemetery has had four years for the ground to settle?"

Mr Dawson said cemeteries in Thornaby and Billingham, which have almost a century of provision left between them, could be used if necessary but he was "hopeful" a cemetery for Stockton with up to 100 years provision would be arranged.

After the meeting, he said: "I don't think there's any cause for alarm yet.

"We do have many, many years of provision within the borough still. There's certainly no kind of panic."