A land management company is pursuing a court case against East Meon Sustainability Centre after a ‘considerable number of bodies’ were buried on its land.

In 1999 the centre was granted permission to open a natural burial site in woodland around the centre at Leydene overlooking East Meon.

In 2010 permission was given to extend the natural burial site, and now the centre wants to almost double its size from 2.67 hectares to 4.46 hectares to make room for more burials.

But land around the centre is owned by Leydene Park Management Company Limited (LPMCo) on behalf of the residents of Leydene Park.

In a letter to East Hampshire District Council planning officer Ms Sabah Hall, dated November 16, a member of the public whose name is redacted on the South Downs planning website said: “I refer to the matter of ownership with some concern.

“The initial permissions for the burials in May 2020 were given without accurate drawings of the site boundaries and one of the consequences has been the considerable number of bodies buried without permission on land belonging to LPMCo.

“LPMCo is currently pursuing a case through the courts to endeavour to settle this matter and I had thought that because of the exchanges in connection with this legal action, the Sustainability Centre would now recognise the limits of their ownership.

“It is important that any authority acting in connection with activities on this site is given accurate and truthful information.”

The proposed extension would be on land cleared of conifer trees by the Earthworks Trust charity that runs the Sustainability Centre.

In a statement to planners, the centre said: “The proposed extension is immediately next to the existing natural burial site.

“Given the previously-approved extensions, it is considered the principle of development of this additional extension is acceptable.”