Work to start on new Horncastle cemetery site

During construction, access to areas of the Community Woodland off Boston Road - the site of the new cemetery - may be restricted for health and safety purposes. Visitors are being asked to take note of warning signs.

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

Work includes constructing a new roadway through the woodland into the cemetery, creating a new parking area, erecting a storage and toilet building, and resurfacing the existing Community Woodland car park.

The contractor is Maplethorpe & Mooney from Quadring, Lincolnshire. They were selected following a tender process.

In June this year, 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 has taken 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. It will also have a green burial area.

Following construction the site will be landscaped with new trees, fencing and signage.

It is hoped it will be ready for use by summer 2020.