Pitch and putt graveyard plans spark criticism

Plans to convert a pitch and putt green into a graveyard to address a burial space shortage have been criticised by a Berkshire town's residents.

Bracknell is expected to run out of room for new burials in "a few years", according to the local authority.

The proposal would see Easthampstead Park Cemetery and Crematorium extended onto part of Downshire Golf Complex.

More than 350 people have objected to the plan, which Bracknell Forest Council said would allow for 25 more years of burials.

Iskandar Jefferies, the council's executive member for leisure, culture, public protection and democracy, said the cemetery was running out of space.

"We are a new town, and the cemetery was built with a lifespan," he said.

Bracknell was designated a new town in 1949, before which it was a small village with a population of 5,000.

As of 2021, about 124,600 people were estimated to live in the area.

Mr Jefferies said that, if the expansion did not go ahead, "in a few years from now, residents will not be able to bury their loved ones", which would be "really sad to see".

Under the plans, the golf course would lose two hectares (five acres) of its pitch and putt space, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).

One resident who opposed the project said the area was currently used by more than 150 children every week.

Everyone Active, which runs the golf course, had "pre-empted" the plans after proposals first emerged in 2020, Mr Jefferies said.

Bracknell Forest Council will decide whether to move forward with the plans at a meeting on 12 November.

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