York Council has approved plans for one of Britain's largest mortuaries, a 700-body storage facility run by Pure Cremations, despite widespread local opposition. The facility, at York Business Park in Nether Poppleton, North Yorkshire, will convert a 37,673 sq ft former telephone exchange into a storage site capable of holding up to 700 bodies in racks five coffins high. Standard private mortuaries typically hold around 20 to 25 bodies.
Residents and funeral directors object
Pure Cremations, which already runs a similar facility in Knutsford, Cheshire, offers 'no frills' direct cremations costing £1,595, where the body is cremated with no family present or a formal funeral service. Dozens of locals previously objected to the site, describing it as "horrific" and comparing it to a "human conveyor belt".
Martin Rowley, 64, a local funeral director who runs Rowley & Sons Family Funeral Services and is a Conservative councillor for the Osbaldwick and Derwent Ward, said he was 'disappointed' by the decision. He claimed the 25 or so staff employed there won't be able to offer adequate care to the deceased.
"This facility just endorses the impersonal, transactional, profit driven nature of the Pure Cremations operation," he said. "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?"
"If the council really cared about people and transparency, they would have brought this planning application to the Planning Committee for determination."
Criticism from residents and councillors
Another resident said: "My son visited the Departure Lounge at their other branch in Knutsford on a recent school science trip. He was shocked. Very disappointing this has been given the go-ahead."
A separate resident stated: "It doesn't matter how many people object, they get what they want. Someone has seen a lot of money coming!"
Liberal Democrat councillor Anne Hook, who previously objected, said the move would affect businesses and hotels on the industrial estate. Other critics claimed it would provide 'zero economic integration' for independent funeral directors, stonemasons, churches, caterers, or florists.
Company defends facility
In the UK, the cost of a traditional funeral, with a service at the crematorium or a burial, is around £4,700, according to Pure Cremations' Cost of Funerals Index. Pure Cremation's direct cremation service is over £3,000 cheaper.
Mark Seastron, from Pure Cremation and MPD Built Environment Consultants, submitted the application for the site conversion to York Council on June 29 this year. On top of the body storage facility, six external cooling units, a new roller shutter door, and the extension of the existing car parking area are on the way.
According to the planning application, several rooms would be built inside, including a specialist procedure area, ancillary storage, and an operational logistics base. The facility would operate all day to store bodies collected from residences, care homes and hospices.
Pure Cremation stated in its planning application that remains would be cared for in a 'dignified way in the discreet facility', and they currently run a similar facility in Knutsford staffed by 22 people without issue.
O'Neill Associates, acting on behalf of the company, 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 occupy a similar premises on a business park in Knutsford, Cheshire, no complaints or adverse impact is reported from that site."
