Sheffield City Council is under increasing pressure to find new locations for burial services with an estimated six to eight years left of provision remaining citywide for regular burials.

The predicted timeframe is even less for Islamic burials at roughly three and a half to four years.

The shortage of burial sites is most prominent in South Sheffield where residents are being impacted most severely.

Councillor Tom Hunt, Leader of Sheffield City Council and Chair of the Strategy and Resources Committee, said: “Our work to identify new burial sites is informed by close communication with residents. The loss of a loved one affects us all at some point in our lives. We are making progress to identify sites for new burial provision. This is an issue that impacts on all communities in all parts of the city of all faiths and none.”

There are approximately 800 burials and a further 3000 cremations occur every year across Sheffield.

Currently, there are a total of 16 cemeteries throughout Sheffield. Six of these cemeteries now have no more space available for future burials in them.

In response to the shortages, the council is developing a long-term Cremation, Burial and Cemetery Green Spaces Strategy in order to try and deal with the increasing problem. This includes; identifying a shortlist of potential burial sites, the foundation of a multidisciplinary working group and city-wide consultations.

This has committed them to maintaining burial services as a priority.

There has been collaboration with both the University of Sheffield and the University of York, along with other local authorities, in researching to help ‘secure knowledge’ for these strategies.

The Strategy and Resources Committee is set to hear about the progress that has been made by the Council to secure new burial provision on Wednesday March 19.

If approved, the next steps would be; conducting progress feasibility studies, recruiting a dedicated project lead and securing funding.