A FORMER steelworks site could become a cemetery under plans by Torfaen council as pressure for spaces grows at its existing main site.

The AvestaPolarit works in Panteg, which closes in March, features on a list of 29 possible sites revealed to councillors this week.

As the Argus reported last year, Torfaen's principal cemetery at Panteg has 314 spaces left - enough to last until 2006, based on current rates of burial at around 109 per year.

A failed attempt in 2002 to commandeer a site in Croesyceiliog next to the crematorium, has meant the council has had to look elsewhere.

Torfaen applied to the National Assembly for a compulsory purchase order on the 18-acre Pontypool Park Estates-owned site.

It was turned down following a public enquiry, on the grounds the site was bigger than the proposal warranted, and that the order would have an "unacceptably harmful effect" on the viability of a nearby farm.

Because the largest proportion of burials - 50 per cent - come from Cwmbran/south Pontypool, the emphasis is on finding a site in the south.

Cwmbran councillor Stuart Cameron told a development scrutiny meeting that his ward members were aggrieved by the fact they didn't have a cemetery. The council is looking for a six to 12 acre site, which can accommodate burials for the next 25-50 years.

Councillor Cameron warned against settling for a shorter time scale.

"Twenty-five years seems like a long time but it isn't. In some ways we will be stacking up problems," he said.

Among the other possible sites are fields next to Burton's Biscuits factory, a site next to Henllys School, and land next to Pontnewydd Golf Course.

The council is also hoping to use a parcel of overgrown land next to the existing cemetery, which will buy it some more time.

Environment director Andy Fretter explained the process, saying: "We expect in the next three weeks to complete the initial assessment and narrow the list down to about five."

He also said the possibility of applying for a fresh CPO at the same Croesyceiliog site needn't be ruled out, if a strong enough case was put forward.