“It’s been nearly 10 years since we first heard that the crematorium was going to be redeveloped, and two years since planning permission was granted, yet we are no further forward.”
Belfast City Council has responded to criticism in the delay in redeveloping Roselawn Crematorium.
The council first revealed plans for a new £18million Roselawn Crematorium in the Castlereagh hills back in 2021 to accommodate around 4,500 cremations per year. It was due to open last year.
The proposed new crematorium will include two ceremony rooms and will be able to accommodate around 4,500 cremations per year.
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At the time Belfast City Council (BCC) said there was a “clear need to provide new facilities” after demand for cremations continue to increase year-on-year.
The current site, which opened in 1961, was designed to handle 700 cremations each year, but over 3,500 cremations are now taking place annually – an increase of 400% of the last 60 years.
Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s (LCCC) planning committee signed off on the new high capacity modern crematorium and two 200-seater chapels back in April 2023. yet further feasibility studies have been ordered.
The designs for the Roselawn plans went out to public consultation in October 2021. The two new ceremony rooms will each overlook a landscaped courtyard. Each will have their own waiting room and toilet facilities, including a changing places toilet facility. There will also be new dedicated access from Ballygowan Road.
In a statement to Belfast Live, a BCC spokesperson said: “Elected members are considering options in relation to the new crematorium at Roselawn Cemetery. A report will be brought before committee in due course.”
UUP MLA Doug Beattie, who’s chair of the All Party Group on Funerals and Bereavement, has branded the delay a “disgrace”
He told BBC News NI: “It’s been nearly 10 years since we first heard that the crematorium was going to be redeveloped, and two years since planning permission was granted, yet we are no further forward.
“We need to know what the justification for this latest study is and more importantly when a final decision is going to be made on this project.
“It’s a disgrace that this is taking so long and the amount of taxpayers’ money being spent on all these studies and discussions needs to be made clear.
“The human side of this is that it is causing great damage to bereaved people, who are seeing the time between death and funeral grow because of increasing demand for cremation, and have to suffer shorter services to say goodbye to their loved ones.”
He added: “Belfast and Northern Ireland deserves a crematorium that is fit for the future and we can be proud of yet the council is continually kicking it into the long grass.”
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