York Council has approved plans for a Pure Cremations facility that can hold up to 700 bodies in racks five coffins high, despite dozens of local objections. The former telephone exchange at York Business Park in Nether Poppleton, North Yorkshire, will now become one of the UK's largest mortuaries, second only to temporary Covid-era structures that held 1,300 bodies.
Locals voice 'human conveyor belt' fears
Dozens of residents objected to the conversion, with some calling it a 'human conveyor belt'. One wrote: 'There is no dignity in this. Dignity is having a good undertaker to care for all aspects of giving your loved one the send-off they deserve.' Another resident reported that their son visited Pure Cremations' other branch in Knutsford on a school trip and was 'shocked'.
Local funeral director Martin Rowley, 64, who runs Rowley & Sons Family Funeral Services in York, said he is 'disappointed' by the decision. He claimed the 25 or so staff employed there won't be able to offer adequate care to the deceased. Rowley, also a Conservative councillor for the Osbaldwick and Derwent Ward, said: 'This facility just endorses the impersonal, transactional, profit-driven nature of the Pure Cremations operation. I'm not questioning their service, rather the industrial scale of the facility. How can so few staff realistically look after so many bodies and ensure they are kept in good condition?'
Council transparency questioned
Rowley added: 'If the council really cared about people and transparency, they would have brought this planning application to the Planning Committee for determination.' Liberal Democrat councillor Anne Hook, who previously objected, raised concerns that the facility would affect businesses and hotels on the industrial estate. Other objectors said it would provide 'zero economic integration' for independent funeral directors, stonemasons, churches, caterers, or florists.
O'Neill Associates, acting on behalf of the company, deny these claims. The planning application details six external cooling units, a new roller shutter door, and an extension of the existing car parking area. Inside, several rooms would be built, including a specialist procedure area, ancillary storage, and an operational logistics base.
Facility operations and response
Plans say the facility would operate all day to store bodies collected from residences, care homes and hospices before they are sent on for cremation. Bodies would arrive in private ambulances in body bags and be checked on arrival before being placed in coffins. Racks five coffins high would store them for up to four days. They would then be transported to the company's crematoriums across the UK or to third-party facilities. The location would be closed to the public and monitored by CCTV.
Pure Cremations stated in its planning application that remains would be cared for in a 'dignified way in the discreet facility'. O'Neill Associates stated: 'The level of employment is unlikely to have any adverse impact on the surrounding highway network. Apart from vehicles entering and leaving the site, all activities, including the transfer of the deceased, occur within the building; the only noise will be from external cooling units. Pure Cremation occupies similar premises on a business park in Knutsford, Cheshire, no complaints or adverse impact is reported from that site.'
