Published Thursday 17 February 2022 at 19:33
A new prayer shelter in Pleasington Cemetery has been approved with additional parking to help alleviate any congestion.
There will be new signage created and spaces marked out to highlight the new parking bays and larger car park. The project is designed to replace the existing prayer shelter which is no longer fit for purpose and to alleviate current traffic issues.
The current Muslim burial section at Pleasington Cemetery will be full within 12-15 months and at this point all future burials will take place in the cemetery extension, approved in 2011, which is located over half a mile from the existing prayer shelter.
The cemetery extension is designed to incorporate separate sections for different faiths and those of no faith which includes Muslims, Christians and children, for example.
The shelter is due to be located in the new part of the cemetery and would mean that mourners would not have to walk the half a mile distance from one area of the cemetery to another between the prayers and the burial.
It’s part of wider investment at the cemetery, including the chapel which was recently refurbished for use by the Christian community attending funerals and visiting loved ones’ graves and memorials.
During Muslim funerals, traditionally, the deceased person is taken to the Muslim prayer shelter and, immediately following the prayers and further blessings, is then carried to the graveside and buried. These prayers and the blessings that take place in the prayer shelter are crucial elements to the Muslim burial service in a similar way to the services that take place at the crematorium and before Christian burials.
The new Muslim burial section is located too far away from the existing old prayer shelter to allow this practice to continue – not only would it be a long walk for mourners, particularly in bad weather but it would potentially lead to mourners walking close to other services in the crematorium. Separate groups are generally kept apart in the cemetery and crematorium due to the sensitive nature of the services.
The need for a new shelter has been made more urgent by the impact of the pandemic with a significant increase in excess deaths in our Muslim community coupled with an increasing and ageing population. All Councils have a duty to facilitate burials and cremations to meet local demand.
Quesir Mahmood, Deputy Leader of Blackburn with Darwen Council, said:
Council officers have met with residents to address concerns around parking and congestion. This new site will help to alleviate that by keeping the areas separate.
There is a real need for a new prayer shelter in this new extension at Pleasington Cemetery.
The shelter is in a bad state of disrepair, with mourners left to stand in puddles of water and we don’t think it is the right thing to do to make any mourners walk such a long way from the existing prayer centre to the new burial site.
Funerals are such an upsetting and emotional time and we don’t want to make them more difficult for anyone.
We don’t want to have significant crowds from any service having to move through the cemetery and potentially disturb other services. Every funeral service, of any religion, or no religion, is deserving of dignity and its own separate area for mourners and we will strive to make this possible for everyone.
Imran Patel, Chair of the Muslim Burial Society, established to support the Muslim Community of Blackburn in the sad circumstance of death, said:
The additional space has been in the planning since 2011 and so the replacement shelter is very much welcomed so that mourners can continue to pray with dignity at what is an incredibly emotional time for anyone suffering the loss of a family member or loved one.
No matter what faith, religion or none, we are all united in what is sadly inevitable in that everyone at some point in life suffers bereavement and is dealing with their own grief.
A map of the cemetery can be found here for reference: Pleasington crematorium | Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council