Green burials in a wildflower meadow

A GREEN burial site where York parishioners will be buried in unmarked graves with biodegradable shrouds has been given the go-ahead.

The application was put forward by Osbaldwick Parish Council as St Thomas’s graveyard no longer takes burials and St James’s Church in nearby Murton is predicted to be full within three years.

Green funeral areas are environments not visually defined as burial grounds, with burials requiring a coffin or shroud locally made from sustainable materials. Demarcating graves is forbidden, as is tending the graves.

The method usually produces more rapid decay rates as there is a relatively shallow depth of burial and embalming fluids are not used.

Green funeral principles say: “It is not the grave that commemorates the life lived, it is the entire site.”

The plot of land, off Murton Way, is owned by a family trust, with one of its owners willing to sell his share for the “socially responsible” proposal, according to planning documents.

The site will be managed as a wildflower meadow with an annual hay crop and possible sheep grazing, with woodland planting to the south.

Coun Mark Warters, both a York and Osbaldwick councillor, said: “There’s a clear path to potential ownership of this. What is needed first of all is planning approval.”

Coun Warters added: “If we couldn’t use it as a green burial area we will use it as community woodland.”

Green funerals are growing in popularity but represent a small proportion of total burials. It is estimated that no more than 10 per year will be needed by people living in the Osbaldwick and Murton parish areas.