Work is to start on East Cambridgeshire’s first state of the art bereavement centre.
It will include a crematorium, natural burial area, pet cemetery, a function room for wakes, a memorial tributes walkway and a remembrance garden, all set within flower meadows and woodland walks, with views overlooking a lake.
As well as giving residents a beautiful and peaceful setting in which to say goodbye to and remember their loved ones, the brownfield site is being skilfully developed to enhance the significant biodiversity and ecology that exists alongside the lake.
The council is working with The Wildlife Trust to ensure endangered plants and animals, which have moved in since the site was last used and now restrict its potential for development, are protected and enhanced.
Many of the materials being used in the build and landscaping are recycled, including recycled plastic waste used for cladding, and a bund of earth which was extracted during the building of Angel Drove Car Park in Ely. This will be used to create an area for planting native trees and wildflowers.
The cremator is one of only a handful in the country to run on electricity, meaning it will be able to utilise green energy from the National Grid. In a bid to make the site net carbon zero, the council is also actively seeking grants to add more solar panels.
The project was initiated to investigate the best value for money option for meeting the future demand for cremations and burials in East Cambridgeshire, and as a new potential income stream to support the council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy.
Once completed, the bereavement centre is expected to bring in £3 million of extra revenue over 10 years to support the council’s budget.
The preferred contractor has also committed to bring in an additional £2.25 million “social value” to the district through the creation of local jobs through the build phase, volunteering, and using local suppliers and supply chains.
Councillors approved the updated business case for the bereavement centre at the Full Council meeting on 22 May.
CIL is money paid to the council by housing developers when new houses are built in the district. The money can only be spent on providing new infrastructure that supports growth. The money the council is investing in the bereavement centre is in addition to CIL money already set aside for parish councils, leisure and community projects, health facilities and schools across the district.
Councillors heard that following a comprehensive procurement exercise, costs have changed since the original plan was presented in 2020. This reflects the significant groundworks needed to address the challenging geography of the area and ecological nature of the lakeside site identified by surveys. It is also down to a challenging global economic market which has directly impacted the cost of structural steel, and labour within the construction industry. These costs have now been locked down by the preferred contractor in what will be a fixed price contract.
Following its approval, the preferred contractor is set to begin work with immediate effect, with the bereavement centre targeted to open summer 2026.
Cllr Anna Bailey, leader of East Cambridgeshire District Council, said: “We are delighted that after many, many years of planning work is finally able to begin on the bereavement centre.
“Being able to say goodbye to a loved one in such a beautiful and tranquil lakeside setting – that not only protects, but enhances wildlife, is something this council is very proud to be able to deliver.
“Death is very much a part of life and is something that affects all of us. Demand for cremations remains high and our population is increasing all the time.
“By investing in the future of our community now, we are preventing this money being absorbed into a pot covering a much larger geographical area when the council is dissolved and becomes part of a larger unitary authority in three years’ time – we are ensuring the money benefits East Cambridgeshire residents.
“This is a very special and beautiful site, and we want this to be an asset the community can use for decades ahead.”
