Allotments are set to be replaced with burial space in Reading at a cost of more than £3 million.
The Henley Road Allotments in Caversham have been in place for decades with 127 plots.
However, these allotments are established on Reading Cemetery land which is run by the Borough Council.
Back in 2021, a report stated that Reading would run out of burial space by 2030.
The need for burial space is particularly important for religious people, as full-body burial is favoured by Catholics, Muslims and Jews.
The allotments are set to be turned into burial space at a cost of £3.13 million, after a decision by the council’s policy committee.
Councillors traded barbs over the proposal.
Ellie Emberson (Labour, Coley), lead councillor for resources, said it was the council’s “moral duty” to provide burial space, and that alternative options for possible new graveyard sites had been exhausted.
While it was agreed more burial space is needed, opposition councillors argued the closure of the allotments should be phased, with the closure of plots only being undertaken at the latest stage.
Rob White (Green, Park), leader of the opposition said: “I do think a phased approach to relocation of plot holders and to development should be used, as I don’t see the point in kicking allotment holders off their plots for the plots to then sit empty for years on end with weeds growing waiting for the cemetery to make use of them.”
He moved a motion that would have selected one of the options outlined by council officers, which would have taken a phased approach to allotment plot closures.
Cllr White said: “Until we’ve looked into the costs, ruling out would seem a bit premature.”
There was also a question about whether replacement allotment space could be found.
Raj Singh (Conservative, Kentwood) said: “I’m not sure why this has not been done so far, what new ways of search will be done, as the ground will be growing somewhere? I’m not sure how we’ll be finding new sites.
“That puts me into a spin.”
Cllr Emberson replied: “As ever I really do not appreciate cllr Singh’s sarcastic manner, it’s never productive or helpful, and I think it was contradictory in that you moan that we’re using a sticking plaster approach, yet if this is agreed, we’re agreeing to continue to look for land, and it’s something we have been doing, so it’s not contradictory.”
Ultimately, Labour administration councillors argued a phased approach would cost even more than the £3.13 million figure outlined.
The committee agreed to prepare a planning application for the use of the reserve land as burial space and devise a managed closure of the plots in consultation with allotment holders.
The policy was agreed at the committee meeting on Tuesday, February 17.
