Cllr Phillip Day has led a review of the cemetery to reassess costs and funding to keep it operational as available space decreases.
He said burial practices have shifted, with fewer people choosing traditional coffin burials and more opting for cremation.
Ringwood Town Council aims to provide a dedicated space where people can scatter their loved one’s ashes.
“The idea is that we create a space for people who want to remember their loved ones by scattering the ashes and having a memorial where they can attach a plaque or plant a tree,” said Cllr Day.
The plans state consideration needs to be given to a new place for the interment of ashes, meaning people can bury a vessel containing ashes.
There is an allotment site on Crow Arch Lane, which has been earmarked to extend the interment of ashes.
Ringwood Town Council has given notice to the allotment office that it will be taking back the allotment by the end of September 2025.
Cllr Day said: “We have said to everybody who had a spot at the cemetery that they can transfer over to Crow Arch Lane, and we will give them priority.
“We will also, for a period of a year, allow people to have two plots, one at each site, to allow people to move things over.”
The town council is also reviewing the cemetery’s finances.
Cllr Day said: “The cemetery is probably the single most expensive thing that the town council does.
“The cost of running it, maintaining it, and everything else is rather more than the income that we derive from fees that we charge to people who wish to make use of it.”
Plans are in place to revisit the pay structure as it’s reported Ringwood Cemetery charges “an awful lot less” than other burial sites in the area.
However, Cllr Day is proposing lowering fees to people who pass away outside of the parish but live nearby and wish to be buried on the grounds, as in this area, fees are significantly higher than in other sites.
He added: “As far as fees are concerned, we are trying to make it fairer, particularly for people from outside the parish who consider themselves ‘Ringwoodians’.”