A SECOND resident has expressed fears about flooding at the site of a proposed cemetery.

Kirklees Council wants to set up a new burial ground in the shadow of Castle Hill.

Last week farmer Caroline Fishpool told the Examiner the plan would lead to “burials at sea” because the land is prone to flooding.

And now another resident has come forward to express their fears about the setting up of a cemetery at Stirley Hill.

Robert Tracey provided these pictures of the proposed cemetery site from February this year.

He said: “I can concur with the concerns of Mrs Fishpool, whom I do not know, regarding the water-logging and I agree that it is a totally unsuitable area for a cemetery.

“I live very close to the site. It’s at the top of a plateau. The land is very windswept and when it rains, the area floods. There are reservoirs underneath the land and the water flows down the valley towards Honley.”

Mr Tracey, who has lived at Stirley Hill for 25 years, thinks the rural location is not suitable for a new cemetery. “There’s no bus service or shops,” he said.

“It’s just not the right place for a cemetery. I think Kirklees has made a mess of this by not doing a proper survey of other possible locations.”

But a Kirklees Council spokeswoman said last night there would be no burials in the area pictured by Mr Tracey.

She said: “The areas shown in the photographs are not areas where there will be any burials as they will be the site entrance and the car park. The ground conditions have been taken into account and can be resolved with extra drainage work and additional planting.”

The council has applied for planning permission for a new £900,000 cemetery at the site off Hey Lane. The 7,500-plot site would replace the council-run cemeteries at Almondbury and Lockwood which are quickly running out of space.

If the proposal wins planning permission in March, the cemetery will open in September.

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