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Joe Colbrook

Launceston councillors - one begrudgingly - have granted planning approval for a new crematorium at Invermay, despite concerns from residents the facility will smoke them out.

Councillor Tim Walker said approving the facility and testing for air pollution compliance after it was operational was "not a comfortable position to be in".

The proposal before the council on May 29 was to build a crematorium, with a viewing area, office and a small car park at 72 Gleadow Street.

A crematorium (inset) is set to be built at 72 Gleadow Street, Invermay after councillors approved a planning permit. Pictures by Craig George, supplied
A crematorium (inset) is set to be built at 72 Gleadow Street, Invermay after councillors approved a planning permit. Pictures by Craig George, supplied
It will be operated by Lethborg Family Funerals, and the facility will just be used for the cremation of bodies - not funeral services or similar events.

The vacant lot is zoned as light industrial with immediate neighbours including warehouses, car parts stores, and the Boral concrete plant.

Seven residents wrote to the council to object to the proposal, raising concerns that the cremator's operations would negatively impact homes, the nearest about 140 metres away.

These included diminished property values, and increased smoke and other emissions which could worsen air quality.

In the planning application, the applicants said that they would use a "state-of-the-art" machine, which had been tested to produce "minimal impact in terms of emissions, noise, odour, gases, dust, particulates and waste".

Councillor Walker also voiced misgivings about the emissions, particularly the reliance on an 11-year-old report to justify environmental compliance.

This report, dated 2014 and produced in Florida, was provided with the planning documents and said when tested the machine emitted 27 per cent of the allowable amount of particulate matter, and three per cent of the allowable amount of carbon monoxide.

"We won't know if this is approved until after the place is operational," Cr Walker said.

"It's not a comfortable position to be in, in that regard, as much as there are reassurances there that there will be no emissions, or that the emissions are containable and controllable."

An artist's impression of the small crematorium facility. Picture supplied
The planning permit came with conditions that the applicants test air quality in a 300-metre radius before the crematorium begins operations, and then at one month and 12 months post-startup.

The second and third tests must be carried out if the cremator is upgraded or replaced.

Other councillors did not necessarily share Cr Walker's concerns.

Deputy mayor Hugh McKenzie said he was content with the approach taken by the council in managing the environmental impacts.

"We either regulate that you have to have it tested every month or every year or whatever, or alternatively we allow the operator to understand their requirements and operate within that," he said.

"I guess that they'll either see themselves that they're doing something wrong, or somebody will point out that they are."