Proposal for mortuary on city trading estate draws complaint

CO-OP Funeralcare wants to use a warehouse at a Plymouth trading estate as a mortuary.

The company is asking for permission from Plymouth City Council to change the use of the building at Cot Hill Trading Estate in Plympton to a funeral care centre.

It says there is an urgent need for facilities due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the centre which would receive and prepare bodies of the deceased would be permanent, to respond to local demand for funeral services.

However, an objector claims the use of “mortuary hubs” is disrespectful to the dead and their grieving families, and represents the “industrialisation” of the sector.

Jonathan Kelly wrote in his objection letter to the city council: “Unless Co-op Funeralcare makes it clear to the families that their loved ones will be taken to such a facility, then I fear they will be under the impression that their relative has been cared for at the branch where the arrangements and any viewing takes place. Families take comfort in knowing their relative is at rest in one place, rather than being conveyed via road between branches.”

In his letter, published on the city council’s online planning website, Mr Kelly added: “The lack of customer knowledge makes it critical for funeral directors to explain how and where deceased are being cared for. I strongly feel that care of the deceased should not be industrialised and that is the reason for my objection to this application.”

Co-op Funeralcare responded by stating that the dignity and care of the deceased was always the firm’s highest priority, and it was fully transparent with families so that 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.

A statement from architects WD Harley submitted with the change-of-use 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.”