A £200,000 revamp of Astwood Cemetery and Worcester Crematorium is set to get underway after council leaders gave their overwhelming support.
Worcester City Council’s cabinet voted in favour of investing the six figure sum into revitalising the site off Astwood Road at a meeting last Tuesday (October 28).
The scheme includes the redesign of the chapel, an improved customer reception and waiting area and a range of improvements to the main building and site entrance.
Councillors welcomed the move as the cemetery has not been upgraded for more than a decade and has previously been described as “tired” and “outdated”.
Coun Andy Roberts, cabinet member for Cleaner and Greener City, said there has already been dramatic improvements made to the site thanks to the help of volunteers.
“The people who have been working at the cemetery are very keen to make it more than just a graveyard as they want to be a place of interest and would like to get it to a Green Flag standard,” he said.
“There are prisoners of war and soldiers there, so there are stories to tell, but we are not telling those at the moment.”
Coun Roger Knight added: “The history of Astwood is really important for the city and its people, so I would be delighted if you could draw that out and turn the cemetery into a destination.
“There are obviously difficult circumstances people find themselves in when they got to the chapel, but I think we should do the best we possibly can to provide the right facilities and the environment.”
Coun Joy Squires backed Coun Knight’s calls to bring more “warmth” into the chapel, while Coun Lucy Hodgson also supported the council’s investment, which would lead to new floor covering, seating and lighting, revamping of the entrance canopy, internal decoration and new outside paving and walkways.
“I am very much welcome this as it shows that the council is willing to invest in such an important place in our city,” Coun Hodgson said.
“By doing this we would have a crematorium which would go someway to getting what the city needs.”
