Plans to turn a section of agricultural land into a cemetery have been approved for the third time after previous permissions were allowed to lapse. Brandon Town Council now has permission to change the use of land north of Manor Road, in Brandon, into a cemetery which will compliment the existing one when it runs out of space.

Plans to turn a section of agricultural land into a cemetery have been approved for the third time after previous permissions were allowed to lapse.

Brandon Town Council now has permission to change the use of land north of Manor Road, in Brandon, into a cemetery which will compliment the existing one when it runs out of space.

Two past applications have been approved and this time, the town council have said they will not allow the time period to run out.

Although it has calculated the cemetery has about 15 years worth of space left, it could take up to a decade for the new cemetery to be completed.

Bill Bishop, Forest Heath councillor for Brandon west, said: “The existing cemetery is filling up so let's hope work starts soon as it will take some time to prepare the area.

“I'm worried though because the existing cemetery is running out of space and it's our duty to do something about it as a council.

“We have two things we're responsible for and that is street lighting and burying the dead. We've now had three applications and three lots of money and we're no further forward.

“I'm really pleased with the decision though. As I said at the meeting, it affects us all unless you want to be buried at sea.”

The most recent application was first recommended for refusal by Forest Heath District Council officers, after Suffolk County Council Archaeology advised that there were Roman, Anglo-Saxon and medieval finds from the area.

Permission has now been granted on the provision that an archaeological evaluation is carried out before any work begins - which will cost the council �13,000 of its savings.

But the application has been granted twice in the past. In 1998, permission was granted but the parish council of the time did not carry out any work within five years.

The Parish Council then became Brandon Town Council which submitted an application for an extension of a further five years which was passed, however no work was again carried out for five years. This meant planning permission lapsed in 2008.

Christine Mason, of Brandon Town Council, said a change in staff in previous years had meant plans for the new cemetery had been waylaid but this time would be different.

She added: “It will go ahead but it's a slow process.”

The decision of the Forest Heath District Council will now be discussed at a meeting of Brandon Town Council on September 7.