New 1,250-plot cemetery taking shape in Cannock

The cemetery, off Hednesford Road, in Heath Hayes, Cannock, is set to open early next year.

It is being built amid a lack of burial space in the wider Cannock Chase district, with Cannock’s existing cemetery, on Cemetery Road, stopping taking burials back in 2006.

The new 185,000 sq m site, which will provide burial space for approximately 1,250 plots over the next 25 years, has been welcomed by Norton Canes councillor Zaphne Stretton MBE.

She said: “It is a nice area that Cannock Chase District Council have chosen.

“That area is easily accessible and it will look nice.

“The fact that we were very quickly running out of burial space in the whole of Cannock, we desperately needed a new cemetery.”

Councillor Stretton also paid tribute to the council’s officers for delivering the project. Planning permission was granted on January 28, 2015.

Bonus

A council spokesman said work is progressing well and contractors are on schedule to complete the project.

Phase one - which includes building a reception building, designing an access road, landscaping and burial plots - is set to be completed by December. This part of the project will cost £1.4m.

Later phases will include the introduction of more burial plots. It is hoped the cemetery will be ready for opening between January and March.

The council spokesman added: “It will provide burial facilities for the next 25 years.”

The cemetery will be built near to a new crematorium which will be a separately run facility, by private company Horizon Cremation. The crematorium is set to open in March.

Councillor Stretton added: “I think that is something that we need because people have to travel to Stafford or Streetly or Wolverhampton [for cremations].

“That is another bonus. It will fit nicely alongside it.”