CONTROVERSIAL plans for a Muslim burial ground in Catherine-De-Barnes have been submitted for a fourth time.
Borough planning chiefs have turned down previous applications for the Catherine-de-Barnes Lane site – citing inappropriate development of the Greenbelt.
But the developer behind the Catherine-De-Barnes Lane scheme have come back to the table again – this time seeking permission to build a 7,000-plot cemetery – and claiming there is a need for a dedicated Muslim-only cemetery in Solihull borough and a shortage of burial plots for the faith.
In documents compiled by the Cemetery Development Services on behalf of the developer, Dr Alam Shah, it states the proposed site will help to fulfil the burial shortage highlighted within Solihull Council’s bereavement strategy.
Only Muslim burials are offered at Widney Manor Cemetery for Solihull residents, with no mention of Woodlands Cemetery being able to accommodate the needs for Muslim burials, the documents say.
At a stronger communities and neighbourhoods scrutiny board meeting held in November it was noted that Woodland Cemetery is expected to be full in five years and the council has been seeking an extension to the site for several years.
The first application was withdrawn and the second was refused in October 2014 on a number of issues highlighted by the planning committee including highway safety and pollution of controlled water in the area. It was also refused because it did not meet the very special circumstances to build on the Greenbelt.
In 2015 the third application was refused by the planning committee on the grounds that it was ‘inappropriate development within the Greenbelt’, causing harm to the area, character and openness of the locality in the area, and traffic concerns.
No date has yet been set for processing the planning application.
