The council’s Cabinet will decide whether to submit the cemetery planning application at its meeting at Huddersfield Town Hall at 3pm on Thursday.

Planners would then consider the issue in March. If permission is granted, the cemetery would open in September 2012.

Cabinet member Clr David Sheard said: “The council is the only provider of burial facilities across the district which offers service to the whole community.

“So, while there are some church burial grounds and others which cater for specific faiths and preferences, we must plan for the predicted need for burial space.

“This need is becoming more urgent, as we will run out of burial plots in two years if nothing is done.”

However, opponents of the cemetery are already coming forward.

Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney has written to Kirklees saying he is against the new cemetery “for geographical and geological reasons.”

Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman and Dewsbury MP Simon Reevell are also believed to oppose the plan.

Kirkburton Parish Council is also against the cemetery.

Clerk Angela Royle wrote to Kirklees saying: “The area is very exposed and a very bleak spot in the winter months.

“Making mourners stand at gravesides way above Huddersfield at a place so exposed to the wind seems rather inconsiderate and would only add to their discomfort.”

Mrs Royle added: “Because the place is so exposed, the roads in this area are usually the first to be affected by bad weather and snow.”

Three Farnley Tyas residents and one each from Stirley Hill, Newsome and Honley have also written to Kirklees opposing the cemetery.

Their concerns include lack of public transport, narrowness of surrounding roads and the impact of the cemetery on the view from Castle Hill.