Planning for cemeteries

Full project title: Planning for cemeteries - present and future, for culture and nature

Duration: May 2026 to February 2027

Funder: AHRC Impact Accelerator Account

Project Leader for SPE: Professor Katie McClymont

Other UWE Bristol researchers:

• Dr Owen Cranshaw
• Dr Anna Hope

Research partner/collaborator: Shaun Knights, Preston City Council

This project aims to develop practical planning guidance and tools to help local authorities better plan, manage and protect cemetery spaces. The research responds to two growing challenges in the UK: pressure on burial space and unequal access to quality greenspace. Cemeteries have an important role as places of burial and remembrance, but they can also contribute to biodiversity, public wellbeing and community inclusion.

The project builds on several previous projects which explored the needs of minority faith and migrant communities in relation to death, burial and remembrance, as well as research examining cemeteries as elements of green infrastructure. The project seeks to translate these findings into practical guidance for planning professionals and cemetery managers.

Research activities will focus on North West England and involve collaboration with local authority planning officers (via project partner in Preston Council), cemeteries and crematoria managers, private providers, and representatives of community and faith organisations. Through a series of workshops, participants will be invited to discuss current challenges, review emerging findings, and help co-produce guidance and tools that are useful in practice. The research will also include mapping and spatial analysis of cemeteries, greenspace provision and population data across the region.

For further information on the project, please contact Professor Katie McClymont (katie.mcclymont@uwe.ac.uk).