Groundwork begins on £4.9m crematorium outside of town
Site is being prepared ahead of work starting on development
SHRUBBERY is being cleared away to prepare a site where a £4.9 million crematorium is to be built outside Hinckley.
The complex by the A47 near the town’s football stadium will provide some 750 funerals a year.
Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council approved the plans and is overseeing the project.
The authority said in an update on the scheme: “It’s currently out to tender for design and build. A decision is due at the end of March.”
Council bosses previously said that diggers would go in at the end of 2019 with the crematorium to be up and running within two years.
It will be the fifth crematorium in Leicestershire with facilities already operating in Leicester, Loughborough, Great Glen and Countesthorpe.
There is a further crematorium just over the county border in Nuneaton.
The borough council consulted the public on the design and facilities for the councilrun facility before the final plans were submitted.
Malcolm Evans, estates and assets manager for the council, is managing the project.
He said previously: pleased to be a part
“I am of this exciting project and look forward to seeing it develop in the coming months.
“The project will deliver a modern, fit-for-purpose crematorium facility that meets the growing need for the population of Hinckley and Bosworth and surrounding areas.”
With the nearest available crematorium in Nuneaton, the council says the new complex will provide an alternative affordable cremation facility with reduced waiting times for services and reduced traveling times for Hinckley and Bosworth residents.
The facility will complement the council’s cemetery services, create jobs and enhance the appearance of the site, and will fit well with the burial services provided as a borough council.
The £4.9 million needed for the project is being paid for out of the council’s capital budget, money which can only be spent on large projects, not for providing day to day services.
Former council leader Mike Hall, who was council leader at the time of the plans being approved, said: “Getting planning permission for our plan is an important step for us to provide a crematorium service for our community.
“I hope we shall soon be starting the development and look forward to the facility opening as soon as possible.”