PLANS to create a new £500,000 cemetery in the grounds of a former hospital have moved a step closer.

Civic chiefs want to provide more than 800 grave plots at the former Coldeast Hospital in Sarisbury Green by 2012.

The scheme has now inched closer to reality after a suitable location has been found in the 170-acre site.

The need for new burial provisions has become critical now that nearby Holly Hill Cemetery has filled up.

A new facility would see 791 adult grave plots, 566 cremated remains plots and 20 children’s plots. There would also be parking for 47 cars.

Preparatory works, including drainage, would cost £210,000 while construction of the cemetery with parking and fencing would cost a further £300,000.

However, work will only begin once planning permission has been granted for development at the Coldeast site and once – as expected – the land is gifted to Fareham Borough Council from the government’s Homes and Communities Agency.

Council leader Sean Woodward said: “In the west of the borough we are very short of burial space.

Holly Hill is now full and that is where people in the Sarisbury Green, Park Gate, Warsash and Locks Heath areas would expect to find somewhere to be buried.

“I strongly believe that if somebody loses a loved one and they wish them to be buried, it should be possible to do so a reasonable distance from their homes.

“It is an expensive job if you think of it, but this has got to be done properly.”