New natural burial ground near East Sussex village granted planning permission

On Wednesday (April 19), Lewes District Council’s planning committee approved proposals to begin using land at Burtenshaw Farm in Spithurst Road as a site for natural burials.

While it had been recommended for approval, the proposals had seen objections raised by a number of local residents. The objectors’ concerns include the loss of agricultural land, the burials causing a local disturbance and an increase in visitors causing risk to highway safety.

Putting forward these concerns, ward councillor Isabelle Linington (Con) said: “It is a shame, but it is the wrong site. Road access is unsafe and unsuitable for hearses and large numbers of cars travelling together.

“The land could be planted and rewilded without a burial site, the business plan is unclear and is not clear on what is going to happen in the future, the site is unsustainable because there is no public transport.”

The committee did not share these concerns, however, unanimously approving the application, albeit with some caveats. These included conditions requiring a management plan for the site and a limit on the total of burials to no more than 100 a year.

This limit is broadly in line with the one or two burials a week the farm’s owners said they were seeking.

In all, around 2.7 hectares of grazing land would be used as the natural burial ground — a site council planning officers say would take at least 60 years to fill.

In such burials, the deceased’s body is buried within a biodegradable wicker or cardboard casket, with a memorial tree then planted on the site of the grave.

Planning officers say the land is not considered to be of high agricultural value (as its thick clay base makes it unsuitable for arable crops) and are also of the opinion that the activities associated with the ceremonies would be deep enough into the site to avoid disruption.

The applicant, planning papers say, also plans to plant additional trees at the north and east of the site, to re-wild and create a new woodland in the area. The applicant also plans to turn some of the land into wildflower meadows.