Councillors discuss alternatives to traditional burials as cemeteries fill up
Burials in woodland, or even cremation by water, could be coming to Argyll and Bute after councillors raised the possibilities.
After a report revealed that some of the area’s cemeteries are running out of capacity, Mid Argyll councillor Jan Brown raised the possibility of woodland burials.
And her ward colleague, Councillor Garrett Corner, also asked a council official about aqua-cremation.
The latter process involves the body being immersed for three to four hours in a heated mixture of water and alkali, which liquefies everything except the bones. The bones are then dried in an oven and reduced to white dust before being given to relatives.
A council official said he was unaware of the process being used in Scotland, although he added that it was likely to be seen in the future.
The discussion took place at a meeting of the council’s environment, development and infrastructure committee on Thursday March 21.
Councillor Brown said: “There are 200 across the UK and six across Scotland. We are surrounded by woodland in Argyll and Bute – is it something we can look into?
“If people want something a little different, and if there is limited space available in most of our cemeteries, it may offer some help?”
Jim Smith, the council’s head of roads and amenity services, responded: “Within the fees and charges structure, we have provision for woodland burials. We have some cemetery sites where it is possible.
“I do not think we have had any applications for those. Whether we can promote and expand these sites is something we could look into. They have lots of benefits, however, by the very nature of what happens, we can only get one burial per lair. In previous cemetery reports, there has been provision for that, but I think we have further work to do in terms of the sites. It is something we can pick up in the future.”
Councillor Brown added: “I would welcome hearing more about it. It would be something people would look at if they knew more about it or knew it was available.”
Kintyre and the Islands councillor Robin Currie then asked: “How would a woodland burial work? You could not just say that you want to get buried in a particular forest, could you?”
Mr Smith said: “The council is identifying locations where woodland burials could take place. Pennyfuir Cemetery in
Oban has been identified.
“Under council policy, a woodland burial would be followed up with a tree planted. Unless it is a restricted area, it is possible to have burials on private land.
“We have seen that where a council employee who sadly passed away was buried at his croft on Islay. Burials need to be registered.”
Councillor Corner then asked: “Has the council looked into aqua-cremation, to have less impact on the environment?”
Mr Smith said: “We are aware of that and have had some discussions, but there has been no active progress. I am not aware of it being used in Scotland, but will stand corrected if needed.
“It is very likely to be something you see in the future and we are keeping a watching brief on it.”