Community
Cremation Wood Proposed
David Lancaster Funeral Directors’s application can be found in full here.
As more people plan to be cremated than buried, a funeral home in Peel has come up with an idea.
David Lancaster Funeral Directors’s application can be found in full here.
The plan is to use part of Ballacreggan Farm, which sits immediately alongside, to the west of the public right of way, the Sound Road. The intention is to create a woodland of native and appropriate species which complements the existing naturalised habitat on the site.
If approved, the company said: ‘The purpose of the woodland would be twofold: first and foremost the woodland would provide habitat to wildlife and to utilise land which is difficult to access from an agricultural perspective and has limited agricultural potential.’
And added: ‘The secondary purpose of the woodland is as an interment site for human ashes following cremation. The applicant operates a funeral home and is aware that there are no natural sites for the burial or partial burial of ashes and that as people become more aware of Climate Change and their impact on the earth through the use and release of carbon, the planting of a tree as part of their departure from the world helps redress any imbalance as well as providing for wildlife and enhancing the environment.
‘This concept is widespread elsewhere – Living Urn, Scattering Ashes, Living Memorial, Life tree UK, Dignity Funerals – all offer services connected with this concept and many funeral directors in the UK offer woodland or eco burial options as part of their services. As human remains in too great a concentration can be harmful to the environment, it is important that a woodland site is properly managed and it is proposed that only a small amount of the remains are planted with the tree.’
The intention is not that the woodland would become a site which is regularly or frequently visited, there is no plan for seating or plaques or anything like that.
The application said: ‘It is envisaged that the relatives and friends of the deceased may participate in the initial planting of the tree if they so wish but thereafter would only visit occasionally if at all as this will not be the final resting place for the majority of the deceased person’s remains as the majority of their ashes will be scattered elsewhere, in a cemetery or a place of importance to the deceased and those they leave behind.
‘The concept is that the woodland remains unmanaged other than to ensure the trees are healthy, and generally unvisited and it remains a natural area undistinguishable from its surroundings.’
