PLANS for a crematorium off the A556 have been 15 years in the making, according to the company behind them.

Richard Evans, chief executive of Westerleigh Group, said he had been working with councils to find a site in Vale Royal since 1998.

He was speaking to concerned residents and councillors at the latest Davenham Parish Council meeting, as the site in question, off Shurlach Lane and the A556, sits just outside Davenham village.

“Originally we spoke with Vale Royal Borough Council, which realised the need for a new crematorium in the district and invited private companies to put sites forward for potential consideration in 1998,” he said.

“Again in 2006 we spent a considerable amount of time with Vale Royal looking for land.

“There was nothing suitable but we’ve continued to look at sites since then.”

He pointed out that families currently have to travel for more than 30 minutes to reach the nearest crematoria, in Crewe, Altrincham, Warrington and Chester, and said the Shurlach Lane site would be more suitable than the recently refused Lostock site proposed by rival firm Memoria because its transport links are better.

Mr Evans explained that funeral traffic would be directed to the site from the A556, not the surrounding country lanes, and a deceleration lane would be built off the dual carriageway as part of the plans, which are yet to be submitted.

He also told the meeting that he had family living in mid Cheshire so wants to do a good job for them.

“If we were to build this it would be run for my family too so the last thing I want to do is to come up with a short term site that doesn’t provide a better experience,” he said.

“It’s already a terrible day.

“It may sound strange but we want to do something Vale Royal can be proud of.”

He added: “We wouldn’t be looking to do this in our own back yard if we couldn’t do something fitting.

“My mother-in-law lives in Rudheath so I’ve got nowhere to hide.”

For more information about the plans visit westerleighgroup.co.uk.