Great Missenden: Roald Dahl cemetery extension plan approved

A plan to extend the cemetery where Roald Dahl is buried has been approved despite archaeologists saying it could harm a Roman site.

Buckinghamshire Council are adding nearly 1,500 new plots in a field next to St Peter and St Paul's Church in Great Missenden.

A new access and parking spaces will also be constructed.

Dahl is buried in the cemetery, having lived in Great Missenden for 36 years until his death in 1990.

The author, known for classics like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG and Matilda, died aged 74 from a rare cancer of the blood called myelodysplastic syndrome.

The council will create plots for 480 full burials and 960 cremated remains, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The land is owned by Buckinghamshire Council and is north of the Grade II listed church.

In planning documents previously submitted to the authority archaeologists said the field was close to a medieval and Roman site where pottery had been found.

"If planning permission is granted for this development, then it may harm a heritage asset's significance so a condition should be applied to require the developer to secure appropriate investigation, recording, publication and archiving of the results," an officer said.

But councillors approved the scheme after a planning meeting on 31 May.

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