Plans submitted to Peterborough City Council for 21-acre Muslim cemetery at Sutton, near Wansford
Plans to turn farmland into a new Muslim cemetery for almost 8,500 plots have been submitted.
Applicant Sageer Mohammed wants to create the facility on a 21-acre site off Old Peterborough Road, near Sutton, before current capacity is reached at Eastfield Cemetery.
The application says provision for Muslim burials at Eastfield is ‘informal and limited’, and that the needs of the local Muslim community were ‘not sufficiently being met’.
The closest Muslim cemeteries are in Cambridge and Corby.
It adds that an average of 28 Muslim burials a year take place at Eastfield, and that new burial plots are now being created by digging up paths and roads and converting landscaped areas.
According to the proposals, capacity there would be reached in three to 10 years.
The proposed cemetery, which is also bordered by Nene Way, would be developed in three phases, with 1,620 potential burial spaces created in the first phase.
It would also include a single-storey building - for use as a prayer hall, washing, cold storage and a family waiting area - a maintenance building and parking for 64 vehicles.
Find out about planning applications that affect you at the Public Notice Portal
The application estimates that, at the current burial rate, this phase would provide enough burial space for 57 years, with the rest of the site left as open pasture until needed.
A further 4,610 burial spaces would then be created in the proposed second phase, followed by 2,266 burial spaces in the final stage, along with further roads and paths around the site, and ‘sporadic parking’ next to plots for those unable to walk long distances.
“The proposal will meet current needs for additional burial space for the local community including the local Muslim population,” the application said
“Further, it will future proof the burial needs of the community for years to come.”
The proposals have drawn more than 70 comments from the public, both in support and objecting to the cemetery.
Many of the objections relate to concerns over increased traffic on the nearby A47, and the impact on the countryside.
