PLANNING applications will be drawn up as the controversial plans to remove some woodland to enable the extension of a cemetery were endorsed by Knowsley Council's cabinet.
The cabinet received an update on the community consultation on the proposal to extend Knowsley cemetery into Whiston Woods, in its meeting on December 6.
The current site on Fox's Bank Lane has approximately three years of burial capacity remaining.
The proposal, the council says, would create the additional capacity needed over the next 100 years by creating 10,000 additional burial plots to allow residents to lay their loved ones to rest in the area.
However, news of the plan led to the formation of a campaign group of furious residents.
Members of Save Whiston Woods have since been vocal in opposition to the plans, stating that it would destroy a much-loved community space and arguing that the council should find an alternative location.
READ > Plans for former police station site which would be 'public benefit' approved
A community consultation which included online and face-to-face events, ran from June 5 until August 4.
Over the two-month consultation period, 222 responses were received and the local authority said that 77 per cent of respondents stated that the council should continue to provide Cemetery provision for local residents and 54 per cent of respondents supported the proposals to extend Knowsley Cemetery into Whiston Woods.
Whiston Woods is a 20.14 hectare woodland site which is owned by Forestry England, falling within the boundary of St Helens, lying on the border with Knowsley borough.
The proposal is to purchase Whiston Woods from Forestry England and use approximately 4.4 hectares of the site (less than a quarter of the site) as an extension to the current Knowsley Cemetery.
The remainder of the Whiston Woods site would remain as community woodland with investment made to support access into the site, to extensively improve the existing network of pathways, and provide seating areas and wider landscape habitats.
Knowsley Council's cabinet endorsed the recommendation to prepare a submission of planning applications and associated supporting documentation to both St Helens and Knowsley Councils in relation to the Whiston Woods Cemetery Expansion project.
As part of the planning application process, statutory public consultations will be undertaken by each council.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here