Scarborough to offer 'green' burials

More people are requesting a 'green' or natural burial

Scarborough is the latest town in North Yorkshire to offer 'green' burials.

The Borough Council says it has seen an increasing number of requests from the public for environmentally-friendly burials.

The local authority has been in talks to develop a woodland burial site, close to the existing Woodlands Cemetery, for some time.

It now hopes that the site will be available for burials by the late summer of 2011.

The popularity of environmentally-friendly burials has been growing steadily over the past two decades.

In 1993 there was just one natural or 'green' burial ground in the country, four years later there were 52. By 2000 that figure had grown to 100 and now there are over 200.

The majority of these sites are run by local authorities.

Steve Pogson from Scarborough Borough Council says: "We started getting requests for 'green' burials a few years ago. Although we identified the site near Woodlands Cemetery a while ago we've not had the opportunity to develop it until now."

Haven for wildlife

Typically a 'green' burial site is designed to remain as natural as possible. Usually an area designated for these kind of burials remains wild with no manicured lawns enabling it to become a haven for wildlife and wild flowers.

Internments are done in bio-degradable caskets or shrouds and often a traditional tree is planted over a grave. Stone headstones or memorials are not usually permitted but some sites do allow some form of grave-marker.

The site at Woodlands Cemetery is due to open in late summer 2011.