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| Dignity plc wants to build a crematorium on land to the north of the former brewery in Castle Eden |
Along with residents of the village we began organising a campaign back in 2013 to oppose the original plans to build a crematorium on the edge of Castle Eden Dene, officially a protected area. We were successful in persuading the Countywide Planning Committee to reject the proposals in April 2014 but we had to continue the fight later that year to keep the proposals at bay when Dignity plc appealed against the decision in September 2014.
The planning inspector subsequently dismissed the appeal in February this year and we thought then that justice had prevailed (please see the post on this site dated 5 February 2015 for full details of the campaign and also further background information to this application).
However, we are extremely disappointed that Dignity plc now considers it acceptable to resubmit their plans to build an unwanted and unnecessary crematorium in Castle Eden. They are well aware that we, as local members, are flatly opposed to this development and they know only too well that both Durham County Council and the national planning inspector have already rejected the plans for good reason. Perhaps most importantly of all they are fully aware that almost the entire population of Castle Eden objected to their proposals so this re-submission tells us that the company is absolutely determined to put its own profit margins before natural conservation and against the keenly expressed wishes of the people of our villages.
It almost goes without saying that we are preparing to object again to these plans and we have contacted residents of Castle Eden to give them advance notice of the re-submission. We have spoken about the proposals to the clerk and members of Castle Eden Parish Council at their meeting last Thursday evening and we've also been in touch with our local MP Grahame Morris who has once again pledged his support in opposing this development.
We have attached below the link to the planning application on the county council's planning portal and we would encourage anyone who has an interest in this matter to contact the council to formally record their comments on this proposal:
We will post updates and progress reports on this site in due course but in the meantime please let us know if you have any particular issues you would like to raise in relation to this development.