Wigan pet crematorium to go ahead despite smell concerns

A planned pet crematorium will go ahead despite concerns it will create "horrific odours".

Some Wigan residents opposed plans to transform a car storage and sales site into the borough's first crematorium dedicated to pet animals.

People living near the Chanters Industrial Estate in Atherton said the crematorium could cause potential "psychological distress".

The council planning committee approved the plans which it deemed "necessary".

"Clearly we must have a facility in the borough, pets die and we have to deal with strays and things like that," councillor Fred Walker said.

The committee gave the applicant, Mrs Natasha Frazer-Ormrod, permission to change the use of the site on Arley Way from a car storage and sales facility to a crematorium, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

One objector had earlier raised concerns the business was too close to residential properties.

"I am concerned with regards to the close proximity to my house, and the smell this business will generate," they said.

"This will lead to psychological distress, knowing that the smell is due to the cremation from the death of a pet."

Committee members who expressed concerns about potential noise and smells were told the site would need to fulfil the same requirements of a human crematorium.

An Environmental Health Officer told the committee the pet crematorium would face a strict permit and emission levels would be monitored.

The dead animals would be stored in mortuary fridges before the cremation and would be picked up and dropped off by vets using the service each day, a report stated.

"In the event of unforeseen circumstances some animals may be stored overnight," the report said.

The plans received unanimous approval from the committee members, however, councillor John Harding suggested future applications for crematoriums should look to be placed in "more rural areas".

The crematorium will operate between 08:00 and 18:00 with an average of eight to 10 cremations a day, Wigan Town Hall heard.

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