Waveney Open Space Needs Assessment | July 2015 | Allotments

Cemeteries and Churchyards

Important areas for biodiversity and wildlife habitats, with an additional historic and cultural value.

www.waveney.gov.uk/planningpolicy 285

Waveney Open Space Needs Assessment | July 2015 | Cemeteries and churchyards

www.waveney.gov.uk/planningpolicy 286

Waveney Open Space Needs Assessment | July 2015 | Cemeteries and churchyards

Cemeteries and churchyards

Churchyards are encompassed within the walled boundary of a church and cemeteries are burial grounds outside the confines of a church. The primary purpose of this type of open space is for burial and quiet contemplation but also for the promotion of wildlife conservation and biodiversity.

Cemeteries and churchyards can provide open space and wildlife habitats as part of the green infrastructure network. In urban areas their role as an amenity space can supplement other open spaces in the area and provide areas of peace and quiet away from the nearby urban environment. In areas of rural character cemeteries often represent a minor resource in terms of open space but can still prove to be important areas for biodiversity and wildlife habitats.

Cemeteries and churchyards are important historical assets and have additional value placed upon them by families of the deceased. Cemeteries often make an important contribution to the local history and townscape of an area.

There are eight cemetery sites and 61 churchyards in Waveney. The previous assessment of cemeteries and churchyards included a household survey. The survey highlighted that cleanliness, soft landscaping features and the provision of seating and toilets were of importance to respondents. Negative issues identified by respondents included anti-social behaviour, vandalism and dog-fouling, however, these concerns were not considered to be major.

The 2007 assessment included a survey of site quality. The quality of sites was generally high and all sites are accessible to the public as amenity space. There has been minimal change since this was completed. A list of cemeteries and churchyards and the quality findings are set out in Table 8.1 and their location is shown in Figure 8.1.

www.waveney.gov.uk/planningpolicy 287

Waveney Open Space Needs Assessment | July 2015 | Cemeteries and churchyards

Table 8.1: Cemeteries and churchyards in Waveney

Cemeteries Cemetery Cemetery Belle Vue Park () - Royal Navy only Cemetery Cemetery Lowestoft Cemetery Gunton Woodland Burial Site (to be opened 2016) Wrentham Cemetery

Churchyards Holy Trinity Church (Barsham) St Peter’s Church & St Johns Church (, St Benet’s Church (Beccles) South Lowestoft) St Michael’s Church (Beccles) St Michael’s Church (Oulton) St Michael’s Church (Benacre) St Peter’s Church () St Mary’s Church () St Margaret’s Church () All Saints Church () All Saints Church () St Peter’s Church (Brampton) St Michael’s Church () St Edmund’s Church (Bungay) St Michael’s Church (Rushmere) Holy Trinity Church (Bungay) St John The Baptist’s Church () St Peter’s Church () St Mary’s Church () St Bartholomew’s Church (Corton) St Andrew’s Church () St Andrew’s Church () Cemetery Memorial Chapel () All Saints Church () St Margaret’s Church (Sotterley) St Mary’s Church Abbey Road (Flixton) St Edmund’s Church () All Saint’s Church () St James’ Church (South Elmham St James) Holy Trinity Church () St Margaret’s Church (South Elmham St Margaret) St Mary’s Church (Halesworth) St Michael’s Church (South Elmham St Michael) St Mary’s Church () St Peter’s Church (South Elmham St Peter) St Margaret’s Church () St Lawrence’s Church (South Cove) St Peter’s Church (Holton) All Saints & St Margaret’s Church (Pakefield, South St Mary’s Church () Lowestoft) St Andrew’s Church () St Nicholas’ Church (Pakefield, South Lowestoft) St Lawrence’s Church () St Peter’s Church () St Margaret’s Church () St Margaret’s Church () St Edmund’s Church () St Mary’s Church () St Peter’s Church (Kessingland) St Peter’s And St Pauls Church () St John The Baptist’s Church (Lound) St Andrew’s Church () All Saints Church () St Peter’s Church (Weston) St Andrew’s Church () St Andrew’s Church () St Botolph’s Church () All Saints Church () St Peter’s Church (Gunton, North Lowestoft) St Nicholas' Church (Wrentham) St Margaret’s Church (Harbour, North Lowestoft)

www.waveney.gov.uk/planningpolicy 288

Waveney Open Space Needs Assessment | July 2015 | Cemeteries and churchyards

Figure 8.1: Location of cemeteries and churchyards in Waveney

Reproduced under license SLA100042052. from the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office © Crown copyright 2015. Unauthorised reproduction infringes Crown copyright and may lead to prosecution or civil proceedings.

Standard of provision There are no quantity standards, quality standards or accessibility standards set for cemeteries and churchyards within Waveney. In terms of open space provision, while they provide amenity value, they have not been included in the calculation relating to quantitative open space provision. They are, however, represented on the Green Infrastructure map. This is not to say these considerations are not important, but rather each site is managed on an individual basis dependent on its surrounding land use and context.

The need to provide burial land in the future has been addressed through land either being allocated for cemetery use (Bungay Cemetery, Hillside Road) or protected as open space adjacent to an existing cemetery (Beccles Cemetery, Kirkley Cemetery). A new burial site adjacent to Gunton Woodland is being enhanced through planting and will provide benefits for both the community and wildlife and is due to receive burials from January 2016.

www.waveney.gov.uk/planningpolicy 289

Waveney Open Space Needs Assessment | July 2015 | Cemeteries and churchyards

Cemeteries and churchyards recommendations

General Cemeteries and churchyards recommendations

General Consider approaches to management of cemeteries that can provide public amenity and encourage biodiversity.

Beccles Cemeteries and churchyards recommendations

Beccles Meadow (land adjacent to Beccles Cemetery) Beccles Cemetery provides habitat for wildlife. Land adjacent to the south of the cemetery will be required as an extension to the cemetery in the future. Consideration should be given how the site could be connected with the existing cemetery to enhance biodiversity and public amenity.

www.waveney.gov.uk/planningpolicy 290