Woodland Burial GroundA Naturally peaceful Place of Remembrance

Woodland Burial which is also commonly referred to as a natural burial or green burial is becoming an increasingly popular choice for burials in the UK and Penwortham Town Council had secured planning permission to extend their existing Hill Road cemetery to provide for this demand. Plans at the site also included for a sensory garden of remembrance, contemplation seating area and a network of footpaths and landscaping.

Contract Ecology Ltd was approached by Penwortham Town Council when it looked like their EPS licence was about to expire just as they were ready to commence with the creation of their new woodland burial ground. We reviewed their great crested newt mitigation strategy and after it was ascertained that their previous ecological consultant was no longer available to implement the scheme, our expert ecologists stepped in to ensure the licence didn’t lapse.

We were able to offer the client a turnkey service to fulfil their mitigation package which included the supply and installation of hand dug newt exclusion fencing and pitfall traps which then allowed our in house ecologists to capture and translocate great crested newts and common amphibians away from the earthworks locations. This allowed for new pathways and seating to be installed at the site which retains a natural appearance.

Once our ecologists had finished trapping the site and moving the protected species to nearby habitat we conducted habitat enhancement of the site by creating a new hibernacula and wildlife pond.

We enhanced offsite habitats by planting up existing pond margins with aquatic plants to bolster egg laying opportunity.