As part of its promise to be as open and transparent s possible Hadleigh Town Council's cemetery working group chairman Gavin Talbot has insisted the public will be able to scrutinise the controversial project going forward.

Cllr Talbot, who was not on the town council when decisions were made about the cemetery extension will chair the working group meeting, via Zoom, next Tuesday, November 17, which is open to the public.

Important documents, including the financial projections and suggested lay outs, which can be openly scrutinised, have been put together by officers and Cllr Talbot is confident the wide ranging report can answer many questions.

He said: "Council staff have over the last few months been doing an excellent job in carrying out a large amount of research into layouts, landscaping as well as carrying out a proper financial modelling exercise in order to effectively do the work that should have been done before the project went ahead so that we can assess the situation that's been inherited and put a proper plan in place.

Cllr Talbot told Nub News: "As you'll be aware the current councillors have inherited a very contentious project that many people felt was not developed with a robust business plan. Unfortunately, there is very little we can do about the history of the project as it had been completed before the current councillors came into office.

"What we can and must do is to ensure that we do our best going forward to try and minimise any financial burden that might spring out of the project."

Concerns have been expressed as the cost effectiveness of the extension to remedy the burden of the £578,000 to be paid of the next £25 years, which will incur interest payments of £30,00 per annum.

Detractors of the project feel this money could this money be better used going towards other facilities for the two, in particular its young people.

Cllr Talbot said: "A key part of the agenda is for people in attendance to have a chance to review and test the financial modelling.

"The current modelling that is in the research and discussion document is the estimates based on the knowledge we have so far from looking at things like potential capacity and pricing structures using both advice from experts in the field such as the Federation of Burial and Cremation Authorities and research on how cemeteries run in other locations."

Another issue which will be discussed is how the extension will be landscaped and what would happen in the future if a different model is adopted in the UK, which includes privately owned spaces being used for burials.

Cllr Talbot said: "The land has now settled for the year that it needed to and so going forward, we first need to decide on how the extension site will be landscaped/laid out and in particular how we will develop the new natural burial part of the site because the site can't open to the public until that is done.

"This forms a key part of the meeting agenda as we want to ensure that the public have a say in this.

"I should highlight that it is a working document which will be updated further, for instance there are a few costs that will still need to be added to the financial modelling as we obviously haven't got the costs for the landscaping work in there for instance as the meeting is going to be looking at the options and putting forward recommendations to council. At that point we will get designs and quotes and those costs can then be added to the financial modelling."

"The important thing is that there are finally some robust figures in the public domain and that anyone who so wishes has the opportunity they haven't had in the past to review them and ask questions."

The working group is keen for anyone with an interest in the cemetery extension to join it for the meeting as the working group was deliberately set up as a way to involve residents far more than is possible in a formal council meeting so residents have a real say in the decisions made about the project.

Cllr Talbot also assured residents that the CWG will recommend then there will be minutes taken and put on the website so the recommendations can be seen then.

Cemetery Working Group document.