NEW figures show a controversial proposed cemetery in Huddersfield will cost more than expected – and have fewer plots.

Kirklees Council wants to develop a site near Castle Hill to relieve pressure on burial grounds across the town which are rapidly running out of space.

But a new report shows the cost of opening the cemetery at Hey Lane in Farnley Hey has risen by £246,000 – while the number of available plots at the site has fallen by 500.

Councillors will decide next week whether to submit the proposal to planners – with opponents of the new cemetery already coming forward.

Kirklees officers have drawn up the proposal to develop the nine-acre site at Farnley Hey because the council-run cemeteries at Almondbury and Lockwood will be full within two years.

The council estimated in June that developing the first acre of the new burial ground would cost £600,000.

But, following tests on the land, a new report this week put the start-up costs at £846,000.

The council’s so-called Phase 1 plan includes:

500 lawn burial plots

A Muslim burial area for 200

An infant burial area

Improvements to access roads

Internal roads and parking for 60 cars and two coaches.

Developing the rest of the site would cost an extra £54,000.

The Environment Agency has demanded a 30-metre exclusion zone to prevent water contamination – meaning the number of plots across the site would drop from 8,000 to 7,500.

A council spokesman explained yesterday why the price of the development had risen.

“The original cost figure was an estimate prior to site investigations,” he said.

“The figure of £846,000 is a fully costed design taking into account the results of site investigations and the Environment Agency’s comments.

“Of this, £54,000 is for setting up Phase 1.

“The vast majority of the £846,000 cost is for parking, roads within the cemetery and landscaping – which is for the entire site and therefore the whole life of the cemetery.”

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.