MORE than 200 grave spaces are being created in Taunton and Wellington to ensure the towns don't run out of places to bury their dead.

Rockwell Green Cemetery - which would run out of plots by the end of the year as it only has four left - is to get 100 new graves.

Taunton Deane Borough Council has agreed to pay to dig up a hard standing area at the centre of the burial ground on the edge of Wellington, ensuring the dead can be buried there for the next decade.

And it will foot the bill for 120 new grave spaces at St Mary's Cemetery, in Taunton, where there are currently no vacant burial sites.

The move will allow more location choice for bereaved people and the re-introduction of traditional memorials.

They are part of a £94,000 raft of measures agreed by the council, which also include:

  • A memorial walkway and extra plots where ashes can be interred at Taunton Deane Crematorium to provide a tranquil area for remembrance.
  • A new children and babies’ garden at the crematorium to create a special place where memorials can be placed. The council wants to work with child bereavement charities to make sure the design and layout is appropriate.
  • A natural burial/remembrance area at the crematorium in a natural spinney/copse to provide an alternative to the formal memorial and burial options.

Cllr Patrick Berry, whose environmental health portfolio includes cemeteries and the crematorium, said: “This investment will provide the extra space that is needed and, importantly, provide areas where the bereaved can remember their loved ones.

"It is so important that people have a tranquil and dignified place to visit at a time of loss.”