Pendle Labour Councillors have welcomed a report going to the policy committee on 21st July 2022 which has been as a result of a 3 year campaign by councillors to secure cemetery provision in Pendle.
Leader of the Labour Group Cllr Asjad Mahmood said “I and colleagues realised 3 years ago that cemetery provision would become an issue in years to come and sadly the covid pandemic saw an increase in the use of burial plots, the Labour led council asked council officers to identify a suitable site and the land of Edge End Avenue/Halifax Road/Kings Causeway was identified 6 months ago due to a delay with the Covid pandemic. I will be pushing for speedy decisions to ensure that a new cemetery is available as quickly as possible otherwise we could be faced with a possibility of Pendle residents not being able to bury loved ones here which would be heart-breaking for them”
Walverden and Whitefield Cllr Faraz Ahmed added “I am alarmed at the Conservative administration considering one of the options is to further increase the cost of burials to pay for the site acquisition and works to be carried out. I oppose any further increases in cemetery fees and worry that previous Conservative leaders have introduced a death tax which at this time is not fair on families already struggling with a cost of living crisis. On the surface it appears Lancashire County Council have got a very good sale price but this should not be at the expense of local families footing the already hefty bill to bury loved ones”.
Brierfield East and Cloverhill Cllr Zafar Ali added “I represent the area of the proposed cemetery and I will argue that local residents should be integral in any consultation on this matter. A few years ago Labour councillors led the successful campaign to stop housing development on this site.”