A COUNCIL has approved spending £150,000 on extending High Wycombe Cemetery so Muslim graves can face Mecca and to save maintenance costs.

Wycombe District Council said the extension was needed as space was running out and graves would otherwise have to be integrated with non-Christian resting places.

This would mean graves at the Priory Road cemetery could not face Mecca and would cost more to maintain, they said.

And bosses were warned they could face court action if they did nothing as Conservative-run WDC has a statutory duty to provide grave space.

The plan caused strong debate when first reported by The Bucks Free Press this month. It has now been approved by the cabinet.

Members were told the current Muslim burial section would run out in April 2012 and there was more demand as fewer bodies were being sent to Pakistan for burial.

A WDC report said: “If an extension is not provided, Muslim burials will be integrated with other non Christian burials, leading to problems relating to the different orientation of burials and with allowing graves to be domed in areas that are maintained as lawn sections.

“This latter issue would lead to increased costs for mowing and maintenance, not allow for best usage of space and is likely to lead to negative public reaction.”

It said no extension would ‘not be compatible with the need to align Muslim burials with Mecca and the current practices of allowing graves in Muslim sections to be domed’.

Domed graves have a mound of earth on the grave, which is then turfed. The extension would be for all residents with a separate section for Muslim burials, making maintenance easier.

The plan would ‘meet the needs of the Muslim community with relation to grave design and orientation so that graves are facing towards Mecca’ it said.

Click the link at the bottom of this story to read the full report.

Bosses were also warned in the report of ‘potential court case and fines’ and a ‘loss of confidence’ from the Muslim community.

Labour councillor Mohammed Rafique said: “We are very pleased.

“The trend is now changing. At one time the bulk of the bodies were sent back to Pakistan but now the younger families are buried here.

“They are saying ‘this is our home, why are we sending bodies to Pakistan?’.”

He said of criticism that the council was unfairly meeting a ‘minority’ need: “It is a statutory right for the council to provide this space.

“Whether the orientation is towards Mecca or not, it should not make any difference in terms of the space required.”

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