Residents have hit out at plans to expand Knowsley Cemetery as a consultation is launched.
Knowsley Council's cabinet previously approved plans to acquire land at Whiston Woods on Foxes Bank Lane from the Forestry Commission as part of its bid to extend the amount of graves in the borough. The council confirmed that it was proposing to purchase the woods and would then use approximately 4.4 hectares of the 20.14 hectare site as an extension to the current Knowsley Cemetery.
The remainder of the Whiston Woods site would be kept for use as community woodland. The proposals would create additional capacity over the next 100 years to allow residents of Knowsley and neighbouring areas to lay their loved ones to rest in the local area.
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But residents have previously hit out over the current proposals as they said it would be "sad" to see it gone. Now, a consultation has been launched to seek the views of residents, but people say they are not happy.
Sue Parry told the ECHO: "For me personally, I discovered it during lockdown and started walking a lot which was really good for the headspace. There's not much green space left because of housing and we are dealing with the traffic and roadworks from that.
"It's about just having somewhere, and it's not a massive piece of land, somewhere to go and listen to the birds and walk around. It's a nice place to be, it would be a shame to lose it.
"It's got it's issues but it's ours. Some people had no idea the consultation was going on and things seem to have gone really fast paced, it's gone from being an idea to now this might happen.
"The consultation questions are loaded and the council said they will put posters on notice boards but there's no notice board at the woods. Drop ins are also limited."
Sue added: "There's some confusion over how many plots do they need. There's no thought at all and even if they do need to expand the cemetery, there's the land adjacent to it.
"They aren't giving any other options, just that this is the preferred location but there's plenty of space in Knowsley.
"I'm ok, I can walk quite a bit but what about people with disabilities, what if this is their local park? We need to reach out to Knowsley Council, they aren't engaging with us.
"If there will be a car park and road, you won't be able to let your kids have a run around, it won't be a place you want to go and socialise and sit on a park bench in a cemetery."
It is important to note however that these proposals are currently in the consultation stage as the council seeks the views of residents.
Knowsley Council previously confirmed there would be a consultation to seek the views of local people as they added: "The Whiston Woods site is larger than 20 hectares and any proposals to extend the existing Knowsley Cemetery into that area would take up much less than half of it – there would continue to be a community woodland.
“The remaining space at Knowsley Cemetery is due to run out in the next three years, so we need to identify additional land so that the residents of Knowsley and neighbouring boroughs have somewhere to rest their loved ones.
“It’s important to note that no plans have yet been shared simply because no detailed plans have yet been drawn up. Any suggestion that a decision has already been made is false and misleading."
The plans and consultation survey are available to view online as well as at a number of drop-in events taking place this month. These can be found here. The closing date for comments is 11pm on Friday, July 7 2023.
The council confirmed that it would invest in extensive improvements to the existing network of pathways, seating areas, and wider landscape habitats and the whole site would remain freely accessible to the public. They added that the current Fox’s Bank Cemetery (next to Whiston Woods) is nearing full capacity and it is expected to be full within the next three years.
St Helens Council confirmed no planning application had yet been submitted.
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