Space for around 4,000 extra graves could be set aside in Cheslyn Hay under plans to extend the village’s cemetery because of a shortage of burial space in the district.South Staffordshire Council wants to create two extra cemeteries - one in the north of the district, one in the south - and both would be roughly the same size.
Cheslyn Hay is the preferred site for the north, and Sytch Lane, Wombourne, for the south but it does not currently own either.
Cheslyn Hay cemetery, off Cemetery Road, has enough space left for 100 burials after hedgerows were cut back. Around a dozen burials currently take place there each year but numbers are expected to rise.
New rules come into force on Wednesday at Great Wyrley cemetery which mean that people who do not live in the village will not be allowed to be buried there.
But the land earmarked by South Staffordshire Council for the extension is currently at the centre of plans to build 560 houses at Campions Wood quarry.
The scheme includes an area set aside for cemetery provision but the extension plans are not likely to move forward until an appeal on the homes bid is heard.
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