FAMILIES are already booking plots in Skipton's woodland burial site although it will not be ready until the end of the year.

Work is beginning immediately to lay a footpath and a road and to plant trees and thin bushes to create the ten-acre natural burial site south of Brackenley Lane.

The scheme, pioneered by the Trustees of Tarn Moor, local resident Wendy Pratt, and woodlands manager Richard Breese, was recently granted planning permission by Craven District Council.

Mrs Pratt said: "Diversity of beliefs, a wish for nonconformity and a conservation approach to death are some of the many reasons why burial outside the strictures of the church or local authority is being sought." In a natural burial site, the deceased is wrapped in a shroud, or placed in a box of biodegradable material and interred. A tree is planted above the body to commemorate the person's life.

The idea is that instead of preserving and entombing the body, it will decompose and become part of the cycle of life.

Mrs Pratt said: "The conservation approach will give an area of diverse habitat that will include areas of oak woodland, open pasture, traditional meadow and scrubland all being appropriately managed.

"The aim of management is to construct and maintain the structural balance with the expanding and maturing woodland.

"In an endeavour to keep the habitat as natural as possible, there will be no physical identification at the site of burial but accurate 'plotting' and recording will be undertaken allowing current and future generations to locate the place of burial."

People can be buried alongside relatives or pets and ashes can be scattered at the site.

An adjoining memorial area will be available for the placing of a physical remembrance to those who have been buried.

The memorial woodland will always be open during daylight hours. Footpaths, seating and open glade areas will provide areas for family gatherings and to allow quiet contemplation.

The site, which should have enough room for between 30 and 40 years of burials, will be discreet and out of sight of the main road and the Craven Heifer pub.

There are already about 130 natural burial grounds across the country.

Mrs Pratt said that natural burial offered an alternative in Skipton to being buried or cremated at Waltonwrays.

"It is really about having a choice. This alternative burial ground concept is taking off throughout the country," she said.

She added: "This is an extension of the funeral directors' services. They can give you advice or further information on these types of burials."

Paul Elgar, the Tarn Moor Estate managing agent, said the trust was set up in 1700 and was still providing benefits for Skipton people.

"Wendy has been the catalyst for this latest scheme which seemed ideal for this land.

"It will not disturb anybody and it will generate a better income than if it was left as agricultural land," he said.

For more information on the woodland burial site, contact Mrs Pratt, the burial ground manager, at Tarn Moor Memorial Woodland, White House Farm, Stirton.

Mrs Pratt can also be contacted by telephone on 01756 701688.