The growing shortage of land in the district’s cemeteries could force bereaved families to bury loved ones in areas to which they feel no allegiance, a new report has revealed.

The study, which examines the key issues facing Bradford Council’s Bereavement Service, says residents could be forced out of their local areas to cemeteries some distance away.

The first “pressure point” is likely to be Nab Wood Cemetery, Shipley, where the remaining 35 full spaces and 33 ashes plots will be exhausted within 12 months.

At the current rate, land at Silsden New Cemetery will be used up in nine years and pressure will then follow at Scholemoor within 12 years and Morton in 17 years.

Meanwhile, existing land allocated to the Council for Mosques in Scholemoor Cemetery will be used up in just under five years. Bingley is thought to have about 50 years left, Wilsden 100 years and all other municipal cemeteries between 50 and 60 years.

The report, to go before the Council’s Regeneration and Economy Improvement Committee today, urges the council to consider increasing the availability of land as soon as possible as it becomes increasingly difficult to source land within or near city boundaries.

The report said: “Once one cemetery is full then pressure on others starts to increase.

“Pressure will also be felt and heard from the public who will be forced out of their local areas to cemeteries some distance away with which they feel no allegiance.

“This is exacerbated when family members are already buried in a local cemetery but there is no room to ‘join’ them.

“Just as in Victorian times, burials had to move away from overcrowded churchyards and dedicated municipal cemeteries had to be created.

“It would seem likely that any new cemetery land will have to be made available far distant from the communities it serves.”

The report said a number of considerations could mean increased pressure on grave spaces in the coming years.

It said: “With the settling of diverse ethnic groups there has been a diversity of requirements for the disposal of the dead.

“Some Roman Catholics still require burials despite the Holy Roman Church having permitted cremation for many years. Fortunately for this group, there is also a tradition of multiple-depth family graves.”

The study said the custom among Bradford’s Muslim community was for the use of single-depth graves, rather than the double or triple depth graves popular with Christian communities.

“Land in Muslim sections/cemeteries is being used up at a far greater rate than had previously been the case when cemeteries were exclusively Christian,” said the report.

Sher Azam, of Bradford Council for Mosques, agreed that spaces in Muslim sections of cemeteries were running out quickly.

He said: “In the past, the Muslim community has sent the bodies of deceased abroad because that’s where their families lived.

“Now, as time has gone by, most people’s loved ones are born here or have settled permanently, so they are burying loved ones in Bradford.

“For this reason, there’s an upsurge in the need for land and, yes, Islam requires us to bury rather than cremate so we need burial grounds that are suitable for our needs. There are sites allocated but they are running out fast.”

Mr Azam said local authorities should provide sufficient burial opportunities for residents and added that he hoped extra provision would be identified sooner rather than later.

A Council spokesman said: “Once Nab Wood fills up, the nearest ones in relation to that, such as Bingley, will start to feel the pressure.

“That would mean the estimated time left at Bingley would start shrinking more quickly because, at the moment, Nab Wood takes the strain off it.”

The spokesman added that the ashes plots were not as much of an issue because they took up less space.

The ratio of cremations to burials has been consistent for a number of years at 70 per cent to 30 per cent.

With 650 out of the annual 1,300 burials across the district taking place in new graves, it is estimated that the district’s existing grave stock will last about 55 years, but spaces available may not be in areas local to the deceased.

The report said: “It may be expedient to consider the situation earlier rather than later as land will become increasingly scarce within or near to city boundaries and it will become increasingly difficult to satisfy public demand for local cemeteries.”

It said there could be a case for money to be channelled towards the Council’s Bereavement Service from Section 106 Agreements – the legal commitment by developers to contribute to local infrastructure.

At present, the service is provided over 24 cemeteries administered from Scholemoor, Nab Wood and Utley cemeteries.

The provision of cremation and burial facilities is not a statutory requirement for a local authority, but it would be unusual for an authority the size of Bradford Council not to make provision for the disposal of the dead.

The service, ranked 34th out of 91 authorities across the country, has 21 full and part-time staff.

Despite burials being more expensive than cremations, the price charged for an Exclusive Right of Burial for 100 years “goes nowhere near” paying for 100 years of grounds maintenance, the report said. It recommended a strategy to reduce this price gap.

The current charge for a single grave space, with a burial grant for 100 years, is £841 for a first class path-side grave and £629 for a second class grave.

Meanwhile, midweek cremations for adults cost £387, with the charge increasing to £772 for Saturday cremations.

The Bereavement Service is also facing several challenges in relation to cremations in the coming years, with existing cremation equipment operating in an inefficient manner against the backdrop of increasing energy costs.

The cremation equipment is also thought to have a limited lifespan – about five years – and does not comply with mercury abatement legislation due to be introduced in late 2012.

The Council operates three crematoria sites at Scholemoor, Nab Wood and Oakworth. Between them, they undertake about 3,000 cremations a year, with Nab Wood (1,400) being the busiest followed by Scholemoor (1,200) and Oakworth (450).

The report points out that, from a purely operational and cost-effective viewpoint, a more ideal situation would be one purpose-built crematorium to serve the whole district, which could be run with less equipment and fewer staff resources than the existing three sites.

It said a purpose-built facility could be future-proofed to utilise heat that is a by-product of the cremation process and is currently wasted.

The report said: “If it was felt that it was essential to maintain ‘local’ provision for the funeral service it would be possible to keep the three existing sites open purely for services but not to have any cremations in situ.

“If this approach was adopted, bodies would need to be collected and delivered to the central crematorium.

“This would result in a better utilisation of staff time and resources and would enable the most efficient use of cremators both with regard to fuel usage and with regard to extending the life of the cremators.”

By December 31, 2012, there is a legal requirement that 50 per cent of adult cremations in the UK comply with mercury abatement regulations, meaning gas flue cleaning equipment will have to be fitted to ensure the extraction of mercury.

The estimated capital costs of upgrading cremation equipment to address mercury abatement at all three cremation sites in Bradford is £6m. The report said the investment that will be forced on the Council by the new legislation will provide a chance to reassess cremation facilities and equipment.

In addition to mercury abatement issues, the report said: “Consideration should be given to the installation of at least one larger cremator to allow Bradford to respond to a national trend of taller and fatter bodies as it is distressing for the family when refusals must be made for a cremation because the body is too big for existing equipment.”

Finally, the report examined the possibility of using alternative methods of disposal in addition to conventional methods such as burial and cremation.

It said: “New technology is being developed internationally to respond to changing circumstances such as the shortage of land and increasing energy costs.” These technologies include ‘water resomation’ which is a non-burn, water-based process that would provide an alternative to cremation.

Meanwhile, a new technology known as ‘promession’ could be used as an alternative to burying. As part of the process, bodies are immersed in liquid nitrogen, cooled, the water content removed, vibrated and the resulting matter collected and buried in shallow graves which rapidly decompose.

The report said these technologies were not considered “sufficiently mainstream” to consider as part of a review of bereavement services in Bradford.

e-mail: will.kilner @telegraphandargus.co.uk