Planning permission granted for £2.2 million crematorium work

Council bosses have secured planning permission for a multi-million-pound upgrade of Perth Crematorium.

The work will get under way in June and will see the facility closed for six months.

Cremations will still be carried out within the building by arrangement with local funeral directors, but there will be approximately four to six weeks when machinery will be installed to bring the building into line with new regulations.

It will be the first major upgrade of the building since it opened in 1962 and will include essential upgrades to its electrics and central heating.

The construction work has been timed to coincide with the creation of the controversial new A9/A85 link road.

The new route, which is part of the first phase of the £35m Perth Transport Futures Project, will be built on land between the crematorium and McDiarmid Park, home of St Johnstone FC.

The crematorium refurbishment includes changes to the internal structure and layout of rooms, which will mean the chapel is closed until early December.

Councillor Alan Grant, convener of Perth and Kinross Council’s environment committee, said the improvements are based on feedback from funeral directors and attendees.

“These changes will help provide a more comforting environment for bereaved relatives and friends,” he said. “Unfortunately it is just not feasible to carry out the work while maintaining access to the crematorium chapel.”

Mr Grant said that “every effort” would be made to minimise the impact of the work and ensure that cremations can still take place.