At the West Norwood Cemetery steering group meeting held at the end of January approval was given to submit the packages of work for pre-planning application advice as soon as possible.  This includes the visitor centre plans for the lodge, pedestrian entrances at Hubbard road and Robson Road, work on St Stephens Chapel and 16 other monuments and proposals for the site’s drainage and pathway works. 

Preparation for public consultation on the cemetery plans is underway and is expected to be held in March. 

Regarding the re-building of the chapel above the catacombs there are plans to progress with a separate bid after, hopefully, securing this first phase of investment from the Heritage Lottery Fund and this will be reflected in the cemetery’s masterplan.   It is hoped that a structure would be built for visitors relating to the chapel and catacombs along with investment to make the catacombs more publicly accessible.

Feedback from the Heritage Lottery Fund are they are happy with the evolving proposals and they are supportive of re-using existing assets.

Information on the project can be found at: https://westnorwoodcemetery.org/