Works to repair the broken cremator at Middleton’s Boarshaw Cemetery are set to be completed this summer.
The cremator has been out of commission since November 2024 due to a number of technical issues. The significant costs of the repairs were included in a recent public consultation that was completed in January.
At a meeting of the council’s cabinet committee on 11 February 2025, the leader of the council, Councillor Neil Emmott, confirmed that the proposal to mothball the cremator had been withdrawn following public feedback and urgent attention was being given to finding a way of bringing the cremator back into use.
Now it has been confirmed that repair works, which are estimated to cost around £66,000, are scheduled to be carried out and completed during the week commencing 28 July 2025.
The funding for the repairs forms part of a wider £600,000 investment into the facility that will cover the repairs and contribute towards future requirements.
This includes ensuring that Boarshaw complies with strict new national emissions rules proposed to come into effect in 2027. It is not possible for the current cremator to be retrofitted with this system, so a completely new replacement cremator will be required, along with extensive building alteration works to house the new equipment.
Councillor Tricia Ayrton, the council’s deputy leader and portfolio holder for climate change and environment, said:
“I’m happy to confirm that works to repair the broken cremator in Middleton are under way.
“The leader and I are working closely with our bereavement service to consider appropriate plans to replace the cremator by 2027 to comply with new cremator mercury emissions and additional ways to enhance the crematorium. These plans include increasing chapel capacity to hold 100 mourners, along with an extended canopy to keep mourners dry in addition to improved parking to ensure we can continue to provide essential services to families in Middleton and across the borough.”
As soon as repair works are completed, cremations will be available once again in Middleton, which provides approximately 400–450 cremations a year. In the meantime, funeral directors can continue to request cremations, following services at Boarshaw to be carried out at Rochdale crematorium.