Funeral firm’s extension bid (From Bournemouth Echo)

Funeral firm’s extension bid

9:30am Tuesday 30th December 2008 in

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A WOODLAND burial ground on the edge of the New Forest is doing 10 times more business than was first expected.

Hinton Park Woodland Burial Ground was opened 14 years ago.

“They were only expecting about 30 a year,” said Colin Rickman, a spokesman for Co-operative Funeral Care which runs the 14-acre site north of the railway line at Walkford.

“Now it’s 400 a year. It is a great success.”

Apart from having a tree to mark the spot where a loved one is buried, the burial ground is not tied to any religion, which makes it totally accessible, even to those with no faith.

The facility has become so successful that Co-operative Funeral Care has now submitted a planning application asking for permission to link its circular building, where funeral services and receptions are held, to its offices and utility areas.

The link extension will mean a spacious new foyer and reception can be constructed so that the recently bereaved can come in and make arrangements without entering the service area when a funeral is in progress.

It will also mean the kitchen can be relocated and toilet entrances will no longer be via the service room but will be accessed from a corridor at the rear of the building.

There will also be a new disabled toilet and more spacious arranging rooms and administrative areas.

“It’s not all about the services. It’s about the care of the deceased and the care of the clients,” said Mr Rickman.

He said a new music system has recently been installed there and web-casting is soon to come on line so that friends and family from around the world could witness a funeral without travelling to Britain.

Bransgore Parish Council will study and comment on the plans before New Forest District Council decides whether or not to give permission.