A LEGAL covenant preventing development on land at Horspath may scupper Oxford City Council plans to use it as the city’s new cemetery.

Land in the Green Belt north of Oxford Road is being eyed up to solve the city’s burial crisis because existing cemeteries could be full within a decade.

Last week, the council’s executive board heard it would cost £1m to create a cemetery to serve the city for the next 70 years on an 18-acre site next to Horspath athletics ground.

Of four sites shortlisted by the council, it was the only one judged suitable for a cemetery following ground water surveys.

But the plans could be thrown into doubt by a 59-year-old covenant.

The land, along with Shotover and South Park, was given to the city council by the Oxford Preservation Trust in 1952, on the understanding it would be kept for the benefit of the city’s residents.

The covenant prevents development of the site, including the construction of the sort of buildings that may be needed in a cemetery.

The trust is set to meet the city council to discuss the plans.

Trust director Debbie Dance said: “The first we knew that they were considering it was when we saw the council papers last week. We were completely unaware of the proposal.”

Under Government rules, cemeteries can be listed as a legitimate use of Green Belt land.

But Oxford Green Belt Network chairman Ian Scargill said: “As a group, we do not think that Horspath is a good choice. It would presumably become Oxford’s main cemetery for many years, and inevitably we think it would mean a chapel, various outbuildings for the equipment needed, and quite a lot of parking.

“We think that is more than the Green Belt in that narrow gap between Oxford and Horspath can stand.”

He added: “It cuts right across the existing covenant.”

If the council presses ahead, the new cemetery would be in South Oxfordshire District Council’s area.

District council leader Ann Ducker said: “In the Green Belt there are allowances for such things as cemeteries, although if it is going to have a chapel and other buildings, it will become difficult in the planning process.

“Personally, I would not like to say that I am either in favour or against it, but there will have to be a lot of consultation with the parishes around Horspath.”

City council deputy leader Ed Turner said: “Cemetery usage is compatible with the Green Belt, so hopefully South Oxfordshire will recognise there will be quite an acute shortage of burial spaces in a few years.”

He added: “We are in discussion with other bodies, but we do not think the covenant will present an obstacle.”

He said other sites – including controversial proposals to expand Wolvercote Cemetery into the Five Mile Drive recreation ground in North Oxford – were now off the agenda.

Borehole surveys found ground water at the site.