Plans for East Ayrshire crematorium overlooking picturesque loch are unveiled

A crematorium could be built in East Ayrshire under new plans submitted.

No such facility exists in the region with the applicant, KT Montgomery Environmental, keen to build the crematorium overlooking a lochan — a small loch — just off the A71 Galston Road between Hurlford and Galston.

Less than a mile away from Galston Primary School, the crematorium building would be constructed alongside ancillary facilities, a car park with 172 spaces and an in/out access arrangement with a new junction proposed off the A71.

A secondary exit point for emergency use only, in the event of a flood event is also proposed.

Regulators say a site with a minimum two hectares could facilitate 1,000 cremations a year with the East Ayrshire project just shy of that area size.

Dreghorn's Holmsford Bridge, Ayr's Masonhill Crematorium and Clyde Coast & Garnock Valley Crematorium between Kilbirnie and Largs are the only crematoriums in Ayrshire with no establishment in East Ayrshire whatsoever.

Detailed blueprints submitted to East Ayrshire Council planners say that access and parking arrangements have "been designed to take advantage of the attractive views over the lochan."

An artists' impression of what the crematorium could look like (East Ayrshire Council)

But proposals do highlight a serious issue with regards to flooding.

A supporting statement says that the property owner has been working with the local authority for "years" to rectify flooding on the wider site, which is a "significant area of concern".

The application reads: "The current SEPA flood maps have confirmed that the majority of the application site is within an area which is defined as having a 'medium sensitivity' to river flooding from the River Irvine.

"Medium sensitivity is defined by SEPA as 'each year this area has a 0.5 per cent chance of river flooding'.

"There are also parts of the application site that have no likelihood of flooding. The current proposals for a crematorium, have been designed around the known constraints in relation to flooding of parts of the application site."

East Ayrshire Council planners will rule on the application at a future date.

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