Natural burial ground to be built on green belt land in Sheffield

Agricultural land off Riggs High Road at Stannington will become the final resting place for people who would like to be buried or have their ashes scattered in the countryside.

There had been concerns from Loxley Valley Protection Society that grassland and nature would be affected and that people should still have a public right of way through the land.

Nearby resident Amanda Atkin also asked the planning board for reassurances about the health implications of creating a new burial ground.

She said: “I want some guarantees because a lot of water is already running off this site and it could potentially be very unsavory with the burials.”

Officers said this wasn’t a matter for the planning board but the Environment Agency would impose various requirements with ground water. The Ministry of Justice regulates burial grounds and there were rules about how bodies were placed.

Coun Andrew Sangar voted against the plans. He said: “This is a particularly important site, it’s a rare habitat, grassland and this would damage that high value landscape.”

But the planning board overall was in favour. Coun Jayne Dunn said: “I’m supporting this because it will keep it as natural as possible.

“It’s not where most people will choose to go and it will be used infrequently. I have a friend in a woodland burial ground and you wouldn’t even know she was there, it’s so beautiful and peaceful. We can put on conditions that it’s managed sensitively.”

Coun Peter Price added: “This is something very different. When people choose this it’s to keep as near to nature as possible without headstones and the things associated with cemeteries and we should encourage that.”

Natural burial grounds are still relatively new with just 19 across the UK but farmers are looking at them as a way to diversify.

People are laid to rest in bio-degradable coffins without the use of embalming chemicals and often without headstones.