Funds of £25,00 to be used to complete Horncastle's new woodland cemetery

The entrance road is needed to be tarmaced due to the existing road becoming waterlogged, and the wet area behind the storage building needs to be addressed.

Other jobs left to do to complete the cemetery include the creation of two rows of head borders, plant trees, shrubs, a wildflower area and spring bulbs, approve locations and wording for signage, install water butts and connect electricity to the storage building and install additional items including a noticeboard, a litter bin and benches

At Horncastle Town Council’s full council meeting on Tuesday September 27, the councillors discussed the idea of using £25,000 of capital funds to get the woodland cemetery finished.

Member James Martin said: ”We need to take the £25,000 out of capital reserves and just get it finished before the life of this council is done [in May 2023 for elections].”

The councillors voted unanimously to go ahead with the move to use £25,000 of capital to fund the finishing touches to the cemetery.

The council started the project a number of years ago when it was first identified that the existing town cemetery was near capacity.

In June 2019, the town council agreed to apply to the Secretary of State for the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for approval to borrow £110,000 to fund the work .

Approval was granted at the end of July and the council took out a loan with the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB), which it will pay back over 50 years.

The new cemetery should have enough grave spaces to serve the community for at least 200 years, and will include areas for full burials and ashes burials, as well as a green burial area.