An ideally located, independently run Crematorium and Memorial Grounds providing a personal and individual service for local bereaved families.
Meeting Today's Need
Castleton Park Ltd believe that it is time for bereaved families to have a crematorium of their own, free from the long journeys and congestion that blight existing crematoria.
Instead, we want to create a beautiful place, sympathetically designed within its natural surroundings, able to offer somewhere peaceful and personal for each individual funeral.
New crematoria have been built elsewhere to raise standards of care and our proposals at Penylan Road promises to provide something similar for this side of Newport and the east of Cardiff. Set within a natural bowl, free from neighbouring views and enhanced with layers of planting, it will be the perfect discreet setting.
Latest News
Application Submitted - Development of a new crematorium, new access and car parking and memorial parkland. Land north west of Park Farm, Penylan Road, Bassaleg, Newport, South Wales. Read More...
We offer a new & more enlightened way to remember and celebrate a person’s life. A place to pause and remember, celebrate and mourn, in the most comforting of settings.
The Need For A New Crematorium
Currently, local bereaved families have to travel to Thornhill Crematorium or potentially further afield to Blackwood, Gwent or Langstone. This usually means a journey of around 35 minutes or more for a funeral cortege, an excessive amount of time when compared to elsewhere in the country, adding further distress and anxiety at the most difficult of times.
The nearest crematorium, Thornhill, is overly busy, holding many more cremations than its original design allowed. Over the past 5 years it has held an average of 2842 cremations each year, typically 11 per day, with burials also taking place within its surrounding cemetery. Unsurprisingly, Thornhill is one of the busiest crematoria in the country and it is unusual for cities of this size to have just one facility.
Space within the crematorium was converted into a second chapel to relieve some of the pressure but this operates alongside the existing chapel. Mourners complain that they feel that they are in a conveyor belt and can be unsure if they are attending the right funeral. Delays are common too with bereaved families often having to wait for 4 weeks to hold their service or to potentially accept a chapel or time that doesn’t suit their needs. These delays can be even longer in the winter.
All of this is the result of Thornhill Crematorium having to look after more funerals than it can cope with. Nor are there any viable alternatives with the next choices further away in Gwent, Blackwood or on the other side of Newport. The first two are also quite busy holding @1600 cremations each in a single chapel. These pressures will only grow over the next 20 years with the sustained rise in deaths, forecast by the ONS to be @15% across Cardiff, Newport and Caerphilly.
A new crematorium in this spot would finally allow families to have a personal, dignified service with a minimum of an hour allowed for each funeral. Overall, around 1000 cremations would be looked after each year, four per day on average, providing a much quieter and peaceful setting. Thornhill would also benefit from having a more manageable level of demand with bereaved families potentially able to enjoy a less congested setting and more time for their own needs.
A Carefully Chosen Site
Any new crematorium must be located between Cardiff and Newport to relieve pressure on the existing facilities and provide a more accessible choice. Care must be taken as well to avoid the most sensitive designations such as the Green Belt or areas of high flood risk or ecological sensitivity.
In addition, unique restrictions apply to the siting of crematoria, most notably Section 5 of the Cremation Act 1902 which states: “No crematorium shall be constructed nearer to any dwelling house than 200 yards (182 metres) except with the consent, in writing, of the owner, lessee and occupier of such house, nor within 50 yards of any public highway.”
The 200-yard rule effectively rules out urban areas and forces new crematoria to be located on the urban fringe close to the population it needs to serve. Space is also required to provide the right setting.
The proposed site at Penylan Road meets all of these criteria and is the conclusion of a 20-year search. The slope of the field will allow the development to sit down discreetly against a woodland backdrop in a self-contained landscape, free from neighbouring views with funerals conducted in privacy for the benefit of mourners and residents. All funerals will arrive via the A48 with the promise to widen Coal Pit Lane to allow smoother traffic flows.
The Design
We believe that we have found the right place for our modest building to nestle into the landscape. The development is single storey, @500m2 in size, set within a natural bowl and surrounding woodland. There should be no intrusive views and this sensitively designed building will match the local character with the use of natural stone, painted render and a pitched slate roof. The building will also be screened on all sides with trees, hedgerow and a green living wall. This should ensure it blends into the existing landscape and be respectful of its position within the countryside.
The heart of the building is a 135-seat ceremony room adaptable for secular and multi faith use; along with a waiting room, accessible public toilets, a small office with family meeting room; and a crematory. 111 car parking spaces, including electric charging points, and 8 disabled bays would be provided with the layout set into the slope and surrounded by planting to limit views.
The emphasis of our plans is to transform the existing agricultural field into a beautiful natural setting for funerals, blessed with extra trees, plants, flowers and hedgerow with the garden and grounds eventually resembling a mature parkland. Just 10% of the site is planned to be developed with the rest left as a green landscape to ensure that it is a place of peace and remembrance, free of the pressure and congestion of historic crematoria.
The Environment
Carbon Neutral - The crematorium would include the latest developments in advanced filtration and abatement equipment, making it “clean to air” with no smoke or odours.
Using the very latest technology and heat recovery, the crematorium will be one of the cleanest and energy efficient crematoria in the UK and one of the first to fit NOx (nitrous oxide) abatement.
The land will also be converted from an intensively farmed field of low ecological value to a more natural parkland offering an abundance of rich habitat to local wildlife. A full ecological survey has been undertaken which confirms that our plans will greatly improve the ecological value of the site. Ultimately people want to hold funerals in a beautiful, natural setting.
For further information on Cremator Equipment and Air quality, please download the information document below.
Access And Highways
A new access will be created off Penylan Road which will meet all of the highways standards. Coal Pit Lane is also set to be widened to allow two-way traffic which should benefit local residents as well those attending a funeral.
Almost all funerals take place between 10:30 am and 3:30pm. This is outside of peak traffic hours, and so the crematorium would not conflict with, or add to rush hour traffic.
Traffic to the proposal would be relatively light in any case as it is anticipated that @1000 funerals will be held each year once fully established, an average of just four funerals per day (Monday to Friday). With typically 20 cars attending each funeral, this would mean on average 80 cars visiting the site each day.
Currently the vehicles making these journeys have to travel to Thornhill Crematorium or further afield and there will therefore be an overall reduction in traffic and emissions on the wider road network.
Public Exhibition
A public exhibition will be held on Thursday 28th Sept from 12.30- 7.00 pm in The Beefeater Bar, the East Cardiff Premier Inn on the A48 at Castleton. Please come along to see our proposals in more detail, ask any questions, and let us know your thoughts.
For further information, please download the Consultation document below.
Your Comments Are Important
We would appreciate your comments on our proposal. You are able to do this through our website using the form opposite or at our exhibition and we ask that responses are made before the 28th October 2023.
Castleton Park Limited, Harbour Key,
Midway House, Staverton Park,
Staverton, GL51 6TQ
Email: info@castleton-park.co.uk