Row erupts over 700-body mortuary plans for York decision

Martin Rowley, Conservative York councillor and director of Rowley and Sons funeral directors (Image: Martin Rowley)

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Search the Public Notice Portal A ROW has erupted over a decision on plans for a mortuary housing 700 bodies in York.

Conservative councillor and funeral director Martin Rowley said the decision not to call the proposals in for a planning hearing meant the opportunity for public scrutiny and debate was lost.

But Liberal Democrat Planning Committee Vice Chair Tony Fisher, who made the decision, said a thorough review of the plans found no grounds for a public hearing.

It follows Pure Cremation’s submission of plans to convert a former mobile network switching centre in Nether Poppleton’s York Business Park into its main mortuary for the North East.

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The facility, at Unit 1 Hudson Court, would operate all day to store bodies collected from residences, care homes and hospices before they are sent on for cremation.

Plans are awaiting a decision from council officers on whether or not to give them the go ahead.

Pure Cremation’s plans stated the mortuary would meet the needs of those who need their loved one’s remains collecting without delay.

But four objections have been lodged, including from local funeral directors who claim it would see bodies stored in an undignified, industrial facility.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Anne Hook, whose Rural West York ward covers the site, requested a call-in on traffic, residential amenity, noise, disturbance and overdevelopment grounds.

Unit 1 in Hudson Court, Great Northern Way, York Business Park, subject to plans to be converted into a mortuary

(Image: Google Street View)

She also claimed businesses could be put off moving to the area if the plans go ahead.

Cllr Rowley, who sits on the council’s Planning Committee, said the denial of Cllr Hook’s call-in request risked creating the perception that decisions were being taken behind closed doors.

The Osbaldwick and Derwent ward councillor, who runs Rowley and Sons funeral directors, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “My objection to this application has nothing to do with preserving my profession, if anything this would probably have a positive effect.

“I’m frustrated because given the public interest in this application it should have gone to committee where it would have been scrutinised and debated in a public forum.

“We also would have been able to request additional conditions as a committee on things like transport and biohazards, now Pure Cremation will be able to go ahead without us having that opportunity.

“I’m a funeral director and sit on the council planning committee, although I wouldn’t have participated in the decision on this I would say that if we had a councillor who was an aeronautics engineer and we had an application about an aircraft facility I would have spoken to them about asked them about their views.”

Planning committee vice chair Cllr Fisher said none of the comments made by objectors had justified a call in for legal planning reasons.

He added they were the only grounds on which decisions about whether or not plans went before the committee were determined.

The Strensall councillor told LDRS: “This was looked at in considerable detail but no planning reasons to call it in were found.

“There were no comments made by our highways officers to justify a call in, none of the businesses on the estate or nearby homes have raised any objections.

“The only ones who made comments about the application were a stone mason, funeral directors and Cllr Hook, concerns they have about their businesses are not ones we can consider.

“The actual level of interest has been miniscule, there were only four objections which doesn’t suggest there is public horror about this.”

O’Neill Associates, acting on behalf of Pure Cremation, have said the proposed site of the mortuary was screened from the nearest homes around 140m away.

The applicant’s agent added the facility would cause negligible levels of traffic and noise issues and the scale of the building would remain unchanged.