Usk burial ground to provide room for families to pay final respects

Plans for a chapel of rest at a burial ground in Usk have been given the go-ahed by Monmouthshire planners.

The building, which is used in association with the Natural Burial Ground Usk on Monmouth Road, is currently used for wakes.

Now planning permission has been granted to use the site as both a wake area and a chapel of rest.

The chapel of rest will be at the end of the L-shaped building and is a remembrance room, which will allow family members to see their loved ones and pay their final respects.

The rest of the building will be kept as a gathering/wake area with a self-contained kitchen and toilet facilities.

The decision report says: “Access is gained via an unmade track to the north which leads to a parking area used by visitors to the site. 

“The building is set within a previously excavated area and is therefore lower than the land to the west and is screened by mature hedges and trees around the site.”

Although a site notice was put up, the council had not received any objections to the proposals.

The building was approved in September of 2017 to be used as a covered wake area for those attending the site.

Although its located in an area of open countryside, where new areas of development are not normally permitted, the report says the nature of the proposal relative to the approved building use is considered acceptable.