A MAJOR hurdle has been cleared in Kirklees Council’s bid to set up a huge new cemetery in Huddersfield.

The Environment Agency has now given its views on the proposed Hey Lane burial site at Berry Brow and has said it has no objections to the development – rejecting fears of flooding problems..

Hey Lane, between Berry Brow and Farnley Tyas, is intended to act as a replacement cemetery for burials which now take place at Lockwood, Almondbury and Kirkheaton at a rate of 120 a year.

The current cemeteries are near to capacity and a new cemetery is needed.

The new cemetery plan has attracted a number of objections.

Some have argued that its proposed location just below Castle Hill would leave it badly exposed to the weather, making it uncomfortable for mourners visiting the site.

Other concerns are that the land is often badly flooded and that access will be difficult.

One local resident, Caroline Fishpool, who farms on fields adjoining the proposed site, warned that some interments would be like “burials at sea” because of the sodden state of the ground.

There are also concerns about an underground reservoir on part of the site.

Kirklees Council came up with the idea of a new cemetery at Hey Lane after studying a number of other proposals for different parts of the town, including Fenay Bridge and Newsome.

The proposed site is approximately nine acres in size.