A CONTROVERSIAL crematorium plan has been given the green light by councillors.

Wychavon District Council has voted in favour of the new facility off the A44 in Fladbury Cross near Evesham by 12 votes to two.

The new crematorium will mean that families no longer have to make long journeys to crematoria at Worcester, Redditch, Oakley Wood or Cheltenham.

The applicants, the Westerleigh Group estimate that 70,000 people in the Wychavon district will, for the first time, have a crematorium they can reach in under half an hour.

The new crematorium will also reduce waiting times for funerals, especially during winter months, when the death rate is higher.

“We are pleased that planning permission has been granted, and that we can proceed to provide this much needed facility to serve communities in Wychavon and the Vale of Evesham,” said Steve Bucknell, development director of the Westerleigh Group.

“We hope this will become a treasured community facility and we look forward to setting up a liaison group with Fladbury Parish Council, as suggested by local councillors, to ensure we work closely together.”

Construction is likely to begin later in the year with the new crematorium opening in 2018.

Worcester Crematorium hosted 1,967 cremations in 2015 making it 33 percent busier than the average single-chapel crematorium in the UK and Redditch hosted 1,816 – making it 23 percent busier than an average single-chapel crematorium according to figures by the Westerleigh Group.

The result follows a long-running dispute in which some residents criticised the plan.

Around 85 people met in Fladbury Village Hall to oppose the application in April.