Request to pause plan for new cremators at Poole Crematorium

Campaigners were celebrating in March when the Conservative administration running BCP Council agreed to progress a plan to invest £27m in two electric cremators.

However, council officers are now recommending that the Three Towns Alliance administration pause any financial commitment.

Officers are suggesting a review of the future operating model for bereavement care services.

Options for investment and delivering models would then be considered at a future cabinet meeting.

Under the proposal favoured by officers, £50,000 in revenue cost from within existing budgets would be needed to decommission the defunct cremators and pollution control systems.

The council would need to stop using the name Poole Crematorium, rename the facility and formally serve notice of the closure of the site at Gravel Hill as a crematorium.

It would continue to be used as a ceremonial venue, which has been the case since cremations were halted in April 2020.

Poole Crematorium has been a ceremonial venue since 2020 (Image: BCP Council)

Following a service, the deceased is taken to Bournemouth Crematorium for the cremation.

Outlining the impact of this proposed course, a report to cabinet written by six senior council officers said: “The delay in reinstating the cremation facility at the location will result in a level of local community and funeral director disappointment and dissatisfaction in the loss of a valued asset as evidenced through the public petition and local press articles.”

The other option available to cabinet is to proceed with the investment in two electric cremators, with them fully operational by June 2025.

It would involve a capital cost of £2,383,300 with revenue expenditure through borrowing or funds obtained from developer contributions.

On this option, the officer report said: “Any investment decision at this time would result in an increase in unsupported revenue spend and impact of the council’s medium-term financial plan.”

The new cremators would need planning permission and securing an increased marketplace share was not guaranteed, the report added.

A feasibility report by specialists said installing two cremators could increase the council’s bereavement care service cremations per year by 273 to 1,463 across the two sites in Bournemouth and Poole. This had the potential to increase income by £232,000 a year but there would be additional revenue pressure through increased staffing, maintenance liabilities and utility costs.

In 2022/23, the council did 638 fewer cremations than the previous year, with the opening of New Milton Crematorium and the growth in direct cremations nationally cited as the reasons for this.

Funeral directors and faith leaders have long campaigned for the council to put working cremators back in at the Poole site.

Cabinet members will discuss the options and make their decision at a meeting on Wednesday, September 6.