Birmingham City Council has announced that burial space at Handsworth Cemetery in the Muslim section is almost full and with no additional available land at the site.
The cemetery which is based in the north of the city currently has fewer than 15 graves available in its Muslim section and less than 70 available for other religions. While this will not affect graves which have already been reserved, it is anticipated that the cemetery will be full to the Muslim community within a fortnight and to other communities within the next two to three months.
However, this does not mean that there are no Muslim graves available in the city. In September 2018, the local authority made 12,000 new burial spaces available at Sutton New Hall which, is also located in North Birmingham, with further provision available to extend the cemetery by another 18 acres in future years as the need arises.
Cllr Sharon Thompson, cabinet member for homes and neighbourhoods said, “The impact of Covid-19 has meant that burial space at Handsworth Cemetery has been used at a faster rate than we would have previously anticipated.
“However, we’ve planned for the time the cemetery at Handsworth would reach its capacity. The investment at Sutton New Hall is significant and will provide sufficient burial land in Birmingham for the next 18 years for those communities who wish to be buried in that part of the city. It has been designed to meet the needs of all communities that wish to be buried at Sutton New Hall Cemetery and can accommodate people from all faiths, as well as different types of graves to meet customers’ wishes.”
The site at Sutton New Hall has also been designed so that there is extensive flood lighting available which means burials can continue to take place with greater flexibility during the darker winter months.
There is also capacity in King’s Norton Cemetery.
