Tories were accused tonight of robbing East Cambridgeshire towns and villages of much needed improvements by splashing out £9m on an “unwanted” crematorium at Mepal near Chatteris. The attack came from Lib Dems on East Cambridgeshire District Council who slammed the Conservatives for forging ahead with the crematorium on the site of the former outdoor centre.
“The plans have been revived now that the Conservatives once again have a majority on the district council and will be presented to the council’s finance and assets committee on 25 January,” said Lib Dem ward councillor Mark Inskip.
“Conservative councillors have rebranded their unpopular crematorium as a ‘bereavement centre’, but that doesn’t make it any more palatable,” he said.
Price war threat as East Cambs Council set to build £9m Mepal crematorium
“And it doesn’t include any of the facilities expected in a real bereavement centre.
“The Conservatives plan to build their crematorium using £9 million of contributions from developers that were meant to benefit local communities.
“Their plan robs our towns and villages of much-needed improvements.”
He added: “And for a large majority of East Cambridgeshire residents, a crematorium at Mepal will be less convenient than the surrounding facilities they currently use.
“It is unwanted”.
Liberal Democrat finance and assets committee lead member Alison Whelan said: “Most of the detail has been kept confidential.
“But what has been published indicates that the Conservative proposal expects their crematorium’s business to come from a thirty-minute radius.
£30,000 will speed up case for ‘potential crematorium’ at Mepal
“But that includes the crematoriums at March and Huntingdon.
“So, their new crematorium can only turn a profit by poaching business from its neighbours, which their plan admits it intends to do.”
Cllr Whelan added: “It also expects to have created only six and a half jobs in that time, and to increase carbon emissions through construction, car travel, and the ongoing operation of the building.”
