GREENBELT land is to be used for 500 graves to meet the urgent need for burial plots in Poole, where just 10 months’ provision remains at existing cemeteries.

The new burial ground is to be opened up at Poole Crematorium, to “provide urgently needed burial plots for which there are currently no viable alternative locations in the borough.”

Members of the planning committee unanimously voted through the plans to change the use of the mown grassed area at the Gravel Hill crematorium, currently used for the interment of ashes, as a formal burial ground.

The plans allow for existing ash interments with plaques to the west of the site and memorial trees surrounding the site to the retained.

It is anticipated that work will start as early as next month, with burials taking place at Poole Crematorium by the summer. In addition to around 2,400 cremations a year, Poole Crematorium is expected to accommodate 30 burials annually.

The planning committee originally considered the application on February 12 but deferred the decision until officers could provide further information to demonstrate the ‘very special circumstances’ required to justify a burial ground within the Green Belt.

According to the report which came before councillors on Thursday, Poole is “rapidly running out of burial space.”

It stated that redevelopment work at existing cemeteries could create around four to six years’ worth of additional space, but the crematorium site will provide for up to 10 years of projected burials.

And it added that after land at Magna Road was ruled out over concerns about groundwater pollution there are “currently no viable alternative locations in the borough.”

Councillor Philip Eades, Planning Committee chairman, said: “Members accepted that alternative sites had been properly considered. Members also felt that in order to meet the future needs of the borough, exceptional circumstances had been demonstrated to deliver the burial spaces within the Green Belt.”

Councillor Ian Potter, cabinet portfolio holder for crematorium and burial services, Borough of Poole, said: “It is important that we accommodate the needs of those people wishing to be buried in Poole and over the last five years we have been considering a range of options to meet this need in the future. Poole has very little undeveloped land available to build a new cemetery.”

He added: “We have a chronic shortfall in burial provision in Poole and this application will allow us to meet the need to provide for burials over the next 6-10 years.”