WORK on the new £1.7 million Cwmbran cemetery is due to start next week.

The development of the site at Hollybush Heights, Cwmbran, is scheduled to begin on Monday with the aim of opening it by 2011.

The Argus reported last month how Torfaen councillors had given the plans the go ahead at a planning committee meeting.

The new cemetery, which will have capacity for 7,000 graves, will be named Llwyncelyn, which is Welsh for Hollybush.

This followed a Torfaen council competition which asked local residents to suggest a name.

The cemetery will provide burial facilities for south Torfaen for the next 50 years after there is only three years of space left in the council’s current cemetery in Panteg, New Inn.

Hollybush Heights covers approximately 11 hectares of land located to the south of Hollybush Way, a main distributor road.

Access to the site will be directly off Hollybush Way and the plans include parking areas along the access road, as well as a bus turning circle for the bus service which will serve the site.

An office will also be on the site which will include a meeting room and public toilets.

As well as traditional burials, the cemetery will offer “green” burials which involve caskets or coffins made from biodegradable materials, which do not include a headstone.

Woodland and meadow areas will also be provided in the cemetery and will be used for leisure activities by the local community.

Executive Member for Operational Services, Cllr John Cunningham said: "We are confident that we will create a very peaceful, unique site that will meet our requirements for the next 50 years."

To view the cemetery plans visit www.torfaen.gov.uk