A large town straddling the border between Kent and London needs a new cemetery as burial space is fast running out.

Since January 2022, St Mary’s Church Burial Ground in Swanley has been closed to new burials as it is now full up.

While any previously agreed interments will be honoured, there are no spaces left for new graves and expansion of the existing site isn’t possible.

Swanley Town Council is concerned time could run out to find new memorial space and has put out an appeal for landowners to come forward with suitable sites.

However, as chief executive Ryan Hayman explains, they also face the prospect of being in direct competition with developers for which such plots are desirable.

St Paul’s Church, which is in nearby Swanley Village, also has a graveyard however it has limited burial space – with around four years until it is expected to run out.

Mr Hayman explained the council is looking into the possibility of extending the cemetery in School Lane after talks began in 2022.

He explained: “There were talks about St Paul's extending but they didn’t need to at that point.

“In 2021, the vicar said it would be about seven years until they run out

“But we’re a few years into that now, so it’s probably closer to four years, under five years certainly.

“I asked him at the time how many people are getting buried and he said two-thirds were cremations and about one-third were graves.”

The Swanley Neighbourhood Plan, which was recently approved, highlights the need for a new graveyard in the town, as well as a new hotel and health and wellbeing centre.

It says: “There is a definite need for a new cemetery.

“A location has been identified in the parish of Crockenhill on land owned by Swanley Town Council.

“The town council owns other parcels of land within the town that could be considered suitable locations.”

However, Mr Hayman says some sites have already failed suitability tests for “not being conducive to cemetery health or efficiency”.

“The site in Crockenhill, and a lot of the land around here, is chalk-based – and that’s not ideal for burying.

“Finding a suitable site will be challenging but we invite landowners to come forward. We’ve been trying to identify possible sites but land is so sought after.

“You’re then fighting the issue of potential sites in Swanley being up against developers, and also no one wants a graveyard near their home.

No one wants a graveyard near their home…

“If a landowner came forward the land would likely have to be sold to the council because we have the powers to deliver the service.

“There might be the possibility of a lease system but I’m not sure.”

While many cemeteries are connected to churches, it is possible for them to be completely separate by being council-owned.

In the instance that no landowners come forward in the next four years, he says people would potentially get buried outside the town. however this is “not a good solution at all”.

“This is why somewhere needs to be found before then,” he added.

There is also the issue of plans for a new garden village of 2,500 homes at Pedham Place, near Swanley, which would result in a population boom in the area and more pressure for plots.

Some cemeteries only accepting burials from people who lived within a certain boundary, with discretion being “completely up to them.”

Mr Hayman added: “Some are more strict than others.

“Unfortunately at St Mary’s, the church in the town centre, there's physically no option to expand its existing cemetery because there's no land.

“The obvious thing to do is to extend the current cemetery at St Paul's.”