Cookham crematorium plan resubmitted just months after previous bid abandoned

Plans to build a crematorium in Cookham have been resubmitted just months after an application was pulled from the council’s planning system.

Two countryside fields on Long Lane appeared to have been spared after the original application was shelved in mid-September amid fierce criticism from parish councillors and residents.

A renewed bid has now thrown up more questions over the future of the 4.5hectare [11acre] site, which lies in the path of a protected view connected with Cookham artist Stanley Spencer.

Elegy Crematorium Services, the company behind the plans, said it was ‘working very hard to acknowledge concerns’ and build what ‘will become a much-loved community asset’.

But fears remain for parish councillors who remain staunch in their objections, insisting the revised plans are ‘as bad as the original ones’.

Plans back on the table

Parts of two greenbelt fields, next to Copas Farms’ site in Long Lane, would be redeveloped into a ceremony hall and memorial arboretum under Elegy’s plans.

Documents from the latest bid describe how the crematorium would be a ‘single storey building flanked by a series of collonaded gardens, within a high quality landscaped setting’.

The ceremony hall would feature a pitched roof and reach almost 10metres tall. The building’s single chimney, lowered in size under the old application, would be almost 11metres.

A car park for 47 vehicles and five disabled spaces has been included in the plans. A new footpath, which connects to B4447 Switchback Road, was added in the latest application.

More amendments to the original design include a commitment to pay for new bus stops in Switchback Road South (part of B4447) and widening a footpath in Long Lane.

A gas-powered cremator is still planned for the site, as opposed to an electric variety, which the company said would ‘not have an impact on air quality’.

The company has also added more landscaping to its scheme, which planning documents said was done, in part, due to ‘comments raised in the previous application’.

Renewed bid ‘tries very hard to acknowledge concerns’

A statement from Elegy in support of the plans said the company was ‘determined to provide a new crematorium service for local families, which is badly needed in the area’.

Planning documents said areas around Maidenhead and Marlow did not have a crematorium facility, and one would be needed in the future to cope with growing demand for their services.

Elegy did not respond directly to a question from the Advertiser over why it had withdrawn its previous application.

But it said: “We are trying very hard to acknowledge concerns of some vocal local residents and to do what we can to improve the scheme.”

It highlighted changes made in its latest application as an effort to address worries raised in the previous bid.

The company’s statement added: “From our many decades of experience in developing and operating crematoria, we know that in time this will become a much loved community asset.”

Harm to countryside views still ‘completely unacceptable’, politician says

Cookham Parish Council chairman Bill Perry said objections to the plan were likely to remain despite the developers revised application.

One key point of contention for parish councillors is potential harm to a protected view associated with 20th century artist Stanley Spencer, renowned for his paintings of Cookham.

“This is right in the middle of one of the best Spencer views across Cookham,” Cllr Perry said. “It's completely unacceptable.”

Cllr Perry also hit back at the company’s assertion in planning documents over engagement with the parish council on its application.

“They did not engage with us in any meaningful sense,” he said, adding: “Their allegation of engagement with the parish council is laughable.”

Cllr Perry said: “I don't think that the changes in the plans as now submitted will make the parish council any happier with them… my view is that these are as bad as the original ones.”