Atlantic View Crematorium plans halted by High Court
The proposal had been granted on the basis of providing a facility for people in North Cornwall and Devon who would have had to travel a long way to access the nearest crematorium
Plans for the Atlantic View Crematorium in North Cornwall, which would have been one of the largest crematoria in the UK, have been halted by the High Court, the BBC has reported.
At a judicial review in London last week, external Judge Sir Duncan Ouseley quashed the permission to develop, finding that a planning officer’s report gave a “seriously misleading” overall impression of the evidence concerning the project’s viability.
Cornwall Council had planned to build the facility next to the A39 at Poundstock, near Bude. Due to the High Court outcome, the council is expected to pay £70k in court costs.
It is understood that objectors questioned the viability of the project, saying it was in the wrong location. People who voiced concerns also claimed it could have “major” impacts on residents and local tourism.
The plan, which would have involved building on a 14-acre rural site, was first granted permission by the council’s strategic planning committee in November 2022. This came despite hundreds of objections from residents, according to the BBC.
The proposal had been granted on the basis of providing a facility for people in North Cornwall and Devon who would have had to travel a long way to Bodmin or Barnstaple to access the nearest crematorium.
Sir Ouseley said the report did “accentuate the positive and downplay the negative” and was critical of the “unwarrantedly dismissive approach of the council”, while dealing with the matter.
He also highlighted “serious errors” in the consideration of the need for the crematorium, its scale and location, adding that the planning report for councillors got itself “in a hopeless tangle”.
The Atlantic View Crematorium Consortium, the planning application holder, stated that Bodmin’s crematorium was operating at 130% capacity as of 2019 and families were having to wait more than three weeks for services. The consortium also raised concerns that demand is “only expected to increase”.
A spokesperson for Cornwall Council said: “Objections to a planning application doesn’t mean that a planning application is automatically refused. All comments and considerations are assessed as part of the planning process and are weighed against national and local planning policy and guidance to then reach a conclusion.
“The matter was subject to a High Court challenge, and whilst the council is disappointed with the outcome, at this stage we accept the Court’s judgement as it is not in the public interest to challenge the matter further.”
