Plans for a new crematorium to serve Maidenhead and surrounding areas submitted
Plans submitted for Royal Borough crematorium
Plans were today submitted to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead for permission to develop a new crematorium to the north of Maidenhead. The crematorium, in a secluded spot off Switchback Road North at Long Lane, would provide a local choice for bereaved families from Maidenhead, Marlow and surrounding areas. It would be the first ever built in the Royal Borough.
The new facility would reduce waiting times for funerals, especially in the winter months, as it would relieve pressure on other crematoria in the area. With the Chilterns Crematorium in Amersham especially having to looking after more funerals than it can cope with, the next choices are further away in Reading or Bracknell. The crematoria at Slough and The Chilterns were both built in the 1960s. Slough has been described by Funeral Directors as ‘unwelcoming, drab and dated’.
The developer has spent some five months listening to comments and modifying the crematorium’s design, to give greater attention to preserving and enhancing the landscape to minimise any impact on neighbours.
“We carried out an extensive consultation over the summer,” said Richard Evans, Managing Director of the developer Elegy, “and the reaction was more positive than we expected. In response to feedback, we have been able to make a number of changes to our design and layout, to ensure that the building is as discreet as possible and offering the best service to the bereaved.”
“We would expect a lot of local opposition from neighbours who worry about increased traffic and air quality. We have been able to reassure them that we will be holding an average four funerals a day on weekdays only. And it’s important to remember that modern crematoria are fitted with state-of-the-art filtration equipment - they are smoke free.”
Some residents responded by saying that they fully support the new crematorium, one describing the location as “as near perfect as you’d hope”. Funeral officiants, both religious and humanist, have welcomed the plans. One commented how important it will be “to avoid the “conveyor belt” feel that Slough, and to a lesser extent, Chilterns, suffers from.”
Slough crematorium, which is now over 70 years old, allows just 30 minutes between each funeral. “The Royal Borough crematorium would provide a less hurried, more local option, with an hour between services, enabling families to have a personal, dignified service,” said Mr Evans.
Funeral Director Julian Walker of AB Walker, who runs Berkshire’s largest independent funeral business said:
“At last, families in this area are going to be able to get better spacing between funeral services and a less rushed funeral experience. They are going to be able to have a funeral of their choice, free from the pressure of others. That means so much to people when they are suffering a bereavement.”
Richard Evans, Elegy’s Managing Director, has over 30 years’ experience working in bereavement. He says the crematorium has been designed to match the local character and he is confident of persuading those living closest to the site that this will be good for the whole community. The single storey crematorium building will sit in the slope of the field and will be screened on all sides with planting of trees, flowers, hedgerows, shrubs and a wildflower meadow, so that it blends into the countryside.
“The site is not overlooked by any neighbours, which means that bereaved families will be given privacy,” he added.