DISCUSSIONS are ongoing over plans for a new Salisbury cemetery after an application at Fugglestone Red was turned down.

Salisbury City Council (SCC) is working with the developer, Persimmon Homes and Wiltshire Council to see what is the “most constructive and most sensible way forward”.

Speaking at a SCC policy and resources committee meeting on Monday, city clerk Reg Williams said the application is “intrinsically linked” with the plan for a new housing estate nearby, which was given outline planning permission by Wiltshire Council’s southern area board.

“It’s quite a complex issue that on the one hand the cemetery was turned down and on the other the Fugglestone development was approved,” he said. “It put a bit of a spanner in the works for both developments.

“Suffice to say there are a lot of meetings going on between us, the planning authority and the developers.

“We are hopeful that within the next two or three weeks there will be a way forward to clear this particular log jam.” Mr Williams said it may be that an appeal is lodged against the cemetery decision, or that the plans are resubmitted with slightly different detail.

He said: “There were certain area board councillors who were against the proposal and we need to get to grips with what their reasons were and see what happens then.

“It’s all on a knife edge and we may have to look elsewhere but it’s not finished yet.”

Persimmon’s application for a 2.1-hectare cemetery with access from The Avenue, was rejected by the southern area planning committee on February 14 despite an officer’s recommendation for approval and no further plots being available in the cemeteries in Devizes Road and London Road. Councillors argued that the proposed new site would intrude on the countryside, wouldn’t have adequate public transport and would be in too remote a location.