ILMINSTER NEWS: Crisis at the cemetery – space is running out for burials

URGENT discussions are underway to find a solution to a massive problem – where to bury Ilminster’s dead.

The cemetery at New Road on the outskirts of Ilminster is nearing capacity. The cemetery has virtually run out of burial plots and only a handful of spaces remain for the interment of ashes following cremation.

The council had already put a ban on people booking burial and cremation plots in advance of their death, but now the situation has reached a critical stage where extra land is desperately needed for a new area for burials.

The council agreed in January this year to set-up a working party to look at the mounting crisis with the broad remit to investigate the availability and suitability of land for cemetery use including land already owned by the council.

But the news will undoubtedly lead to upset and concern among many people in the town knowing that they and their loved ones will most probably not be able to be laid to rest in Ilminster as it will take time for new burial land to be found and prepared.

It is understood that the town council is to issue a press statement about the cemetery situation in the near future.

The council agreed at its 2016-17 budget setting meeting in January to earmark a certain amount of money for the “consideration” of the purchase of additional cemetery land.

But it will not be cheap - agricultural land is priced at about £10,000 per acre.

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