About the South Bristol Cemetery and Crematorium expansion plans and the review of the decision-making processes.
About South Bristol Cemetery and Crematorium expansion plans
The council owns and runs South Bristol Cemetery and Crematorium and also owns the land adjacent to the cemetery.
South Bristol Cemetery is the last council owned cemetery with space available for new coffin burials, currently there are just over 200 new plots remaining.
In March 2020 and January 2024, the council's Cabinet approved plans to expand the cemetery into land adjacent to the site to provide further burial capacity up to the year 2039. Planning permission for the proposed expansion was approved in November 2023.
The adjacent land proposed for the expansion of the cemetery is in the Green Belt and includes Colliters Brook, an area designated as a Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI).
Decision-making review
In July 2024, the council's Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer commissioned a review of the decision-making processes for the South Bristol Cemetery expansion and issues associated with the project.
The review was requested to establish the timelines of all decisions, to assess whether all decisions conformed to the high standards of decision making and lawfulness expected by the residents of Bristol and whether sufficient transparency has been applied throughout these processes.
This review has now concluded and you can pdf view the full report (1.02 MB) .
Clearing scrub review
A separate review is underway into the recent actions undertaken to clear scrub on part of the land allocated for the expansion.
This review has been commissioned to consider the approach taken to the scrub clearance, and whether the clearance works conformed with the approved ecology management plan and the precautionary method of working agreed.
The conclusions of this review will be published to this page once available.