Plans for new Muslim burial ground with over 8,000 plots on Peterborough farmland

Plans for a large new burial ground to serve the Muslim community in Peterborough have been submitted.

The burial ground plans have been submitted by Sageer Mohammed and Zahid Akbar and concerns an 8.5-hectare plot of arable land on Old Peterborough Road, just outside the Sutton village boundary.

Plans state that the site would cater for a “much under-resourced need.”

According to the 2021 census, 12.2% of Peterborough’s population is Muslim and, at present, Eastfield Cemetery is the only facility which accommodates burials for the local Muslim community.

The application stats that there is between three and ten years of informal burial provision remaining for the local Muslim community at the cemetery and that “it is increasingly difficult and costly to make provisions for Muslim burials at Eastfield cemetery and therefore the proposed site will provide a service to the citizens of Peterborough without placing further strain on the public purse.”

The proposed development is envisaged across three phases; the first would provide 1620 burial spaces, the second 4610 and the third 2266, totalling 8496 when fully complete.

Plots at the new burial site would be freehold whereas in Eastfield Cemetery that are leased for 75 years. After that lease time expires, it is up to Peterborough City Council to decide the future of that grave and the remains contained within it.

The application states: “The limited lease period at Eastfield is contrary to religious beliefs as the lease period ends after 75 years this has and will continue to cause stress for bereaved families.

"The land at the proposed cemetery will be freehold and therefore will not have a lease period and therefore will be in accordance with cultural practices, as the graves will be available for purchase in perpetuity.

This will protect the proposed site from further development in the future and importantly will give the families of the bereaved peace of mind to know that their families’ burial plots will be preserved and suitably maintained into the long-term future."

The burial process would also be streamlined in accordance with Islamic practice of burying the deceased as soon as is practical.

The application states that the current process for the general population can be subject to delays that “cause much distress to the bereaved family.”

It adds: “A higher service level will be offered at the new cemetery, within the hours agreed with all relevant authorities, to be more flexible. Visitors will be able to visit the site for seven days a week.

“Currently if a Muslim dies on a Thursday and the body is not released to the funeral director until late Friday, there is limited provision over the weekend, and the family must endure the stress and upset of delays in burial across the weekend until the following week.

"At the proposed site, the booking and burial process will be streamlined to ensure where possible processes are expedited to ensure that burials will occur as quickly as possible after death (burials will typically take place on weekdays between 10am and 4pm.

The proposed site would also include access gates, CCTV a large 62-space car park as well as a single storey building with male and female prayer spaces, toilets and further space for burial rituals to be performed.

The burial site will plans will now be considered by Peterborough City Council and can be viewed on its planning portal using reference 24/01440/FUL.