Scarborough: £3m expansion plan for cemeteries close to capacity

A report said many existing cemeteries across the borough will no longer have the capacity to bury residents in coming years unless they are expanded or new sites are found

Scarborough Borough Council must find more than £3m to expand cemeteries in the area, with current sites almost at capacity, a report has found.

It stated Lawns Cemetery in Filey, Larpool Lane in Whitby and Woodlands in Scarborough will be full by 2030.

Plans to expand Filey and Scarborough graveyards had "widespread" support, with some objections over expanding Whitby's cemetery, officials said.

The issue is set to be discussed at a council meeting on 23 November.

Larpool and Woodlands will be full within the next four years and Lawns cemetery within the next six to eight years, according to Scarborough Borough Council.

Although objections have been raised concerning the planned expansion of Whitby's cemetery provision at Larpool Lane, the council said it was "the only viable one" in the area.

Concerns over expansion at Larpool Lane focussed on the "safety of accessible roads and the loss of green and recreational space", a spokesperson said.

However, they said as long as adequate changes were made to address highway improvement there were "no significant transport-related reasons as to why Larpool Lane could not be approved as a location for future cemetery use".

Scarborough Borough Council said any future decisions on which sites to approve for cemetery development will be deferred until next April's local government reorganisation, which will see borough councils replaced by a new North Yorkshire Council.