A funeral building at a new Muslim burial ground off Hale Road in Farnham should be granted planning permission, council officers have recommended.

Plans by the Ismaili Trust for a “building of exceptional quality” to “create a special place for families to say goodbye to loved ones” will go before Waverley’s planning committee on Wednesday, March 6.

The application also proposes enough car parking for 180 mourners – with the “vast majority” of mourners expected to travel from the Greater London area.

Planning permission for a green burial ground on the site backing on to Grade I-listed Farnham Park next to the Daniele Sicilian restaurant was first approved in 2010.

The Ismaili Trust, representing the Shia Ismaili Muslim community, says the burial ground is needed because its existing burial space at Brookwood Cemetery near Woking is at full capacity.

But objectors claim the traffic impacts will be huge and the benefit to the local community minimal, while Farnham Town Council says the application is in conflict with the Neighbourhood Plan.

The benefits outweigh the negatives though, according to Waverley Borough Council’s planning department.

A report to councillors published ahead of the March 6 planning meeting states: “The planning balance assessment concludes that the proposal is in accordance with the Development Plan and there would be no materially adverse impact caused by the proposal on landscape designations, heritage assets protected species, neighbouring amenity, highways, climate change objectives or drainage.

“It is highly material that a previous permission secured the use of the site for a cemetery and woodland burial and that SANG permission is no longer extant. As such, planning permission is recommended for approval subject to the conditions outlined below.”

The meeting will be held at Waverley’s offices at The Burys in Godalming.