Councillors favour pet crematorium extension despite parish council complaints

The applicants were seeking consent for an extension to provide welfare facilities, and a new single storey building to provide cover for a working area for staff at the crematorium, which is based at Weston Road in Moreton Pinkney.

The application had caused quite a stir locally, with 31 letters of complaint being registered alongside the objection of Moreton Pinkney Parish Council, but 51 letters of support were also received.

The representation from the parish council stated: “This is a major extension, some seven times bigger than the existing facility. It would in effect plant an industrial-scale building in the open countryside. A similar scheme was refused in 2019.”

Other complaints focused on ‘odour issues’ with one objector saying the smell was ‘often overpowering’. The objections were taken into consideration at a meeting of the South Northamptonshire Council planning committee on Thursday (December 3).

But Peter Frampton, the agent for the applicant, told councillors: “The death of a horse or pony can be intensely emotional as well as presenting a logistical problem of how to dispose of the animal. Some may find this business distasteful, in reality it’s an essential and valuable rural service. There is no similar facility in South Northamptonshire, the nearest facilities are in Cold Ashby and Cambridge, hence this business is relied on by local vets and the police to dispatch and remove dead equines.

“Sometimes it’s expected that a post-mortem may be requested, and presently this is being done in open air in all weathers as there is no covered space that is suitable. It seems to me that the applicant’s intention to provide better facilities for staff and better conditions for bereft clients is entirely reasonable and compliant with planning policy to protect rural businesses.

“I’ve read the objections, and the nearest dwelling is half a kilometre is away, and your environmental protection team states this is a low capacity crematorium and they have not received any complaints about the site regarding noise, odour or smoke.”

In the end, councillors unanimously sided with the applicant and approved the scheme. Councillor Martin Johns said: “It’s obviously a much needed facility and it makes every good sense to have the incinerator covered by a structure that is in keeping with agricultural land. It’s a good distance from the nearest house so I have no problems in supporting this.”