Empty warehouse to become a mortuary

CO-OP Funeralcare has been given permission to turn a warehouse on a Plymouth trading estate into a mortuary.

The city council has allowed a change of use application for the building on Cot Hill Trading Estate at Plympton to become a funeral care centre.

The Co-op said the centre to receive and prepare bodies of the deceased was needed to respond to the pandemic and local demand for funeral services.

An objector claimed the use of “mortuary hubs” was disrespectful to the dead and their grieving families, and represented an “industrialisation” of the sector.

Co-op Funeralcare responded that the dignity and care of the deceased was always its highest priority and it was fully transparent with families so they knew where their loved one was at all times.

It said the Plympton site had been carefully chosen to provide vital facilities to the local community and the highest level of care.

The change of use application for the vacant steel-frame building on the trading estate included adding vent grilles and an outside car-wash canopy.

The other tenants on the estate alongside Plymouth Road, near the Marsh Mills roundabout, include National Tyres and Autocare, Graham, Topps Tiles and Plumb Center.

Documents with the Co-op Funeralcare application say the warehouse was previously occupied by a go-kart company then a steel fabrication firm, but has been vacant since the lease ended in March 2020, with little interest since then.

A statement from architects WD Harley submitted with the planning application said the rear yard of the building was secure and would “help provide the level of privacy required to ensure utmost respect for the deceased.”

A planning statement from consultants Pegasus Group, on behalf of Co-op Funeralcare, said due to the Covid-19 pandemic there was an “urgent and pressing need” for mortuary space.

It said the company was the country’s largest funeral provider and had been asked by the Government to “make every possible effort” to secure extra space to respond to the pandemic, but the Plympton site would be permanent due to current and expected future demand.

The statement said services at the centre would include preparation of bodies and embalming in an embalming theatre, as well as personalisation of coffins. Around 14 full-time and 14 part-time staff would be employed.