HOLBEACH PARISH COUNCIL: ‘Blanket ban’ on benches at town cemetery
Families who wish to place benches in a Holbeach cemetery face a “blanket ban” to be enforced by the parish council.
During a meeting at Holbeach Methodist Church on Monday, councillors voted to introduce warning letters which will be left on benches placed in Hallgate Cemetery without permission.
Residents will have a period of time to remove the benches before they are taken away by parish council staff for safe-keeping at its office in West End, Holbeach.
Coun Rita Patchett, chairman of cemeteries for Holbeach Parish Council, said: “Benches placed in Hallgate cemetery without approval have been blown over, causing damage in the area.
“So I’m proposing a blanket ban on benches because they have popped up like mushrooms.
“We can put a notice on the bench and give people a fair amount of time to remove them.
“Then if they aren’t removed, we’ll take them away and keep them until the owners come to the council offices and collect them.
“People can ask the parish council for permission to leave them, but if we don’t nip this in the bud now, there’ll be lots of benches in Hallgate Cemetery.”
The ban on benches, which Coun Patchett said was for “health and safety reasons”, could spark the kind of controversy that hit the parish council in April 2015 when a review of memorials left at gravesides was undertaken.
At the time, parish councillors voted to write to families and advise them against leaving “excessive ornaments, toys and benches on and near graves at Hallgate Cemetery”.
But after a public outcry, a compromise was reached whereby original cemetery rules for Holbeach dating back to 1973 were updated in 2016.
At the time, former parish councillor and chairman of cemeteries Martin Howard said: “It’s a very difficult subject because people mourn in different ways.
“But whether we like them or not, we make rules and we have to stand by them.”
Parish councillors also voted to go ahead with the creation of a new memorial garden at Hallgate Cemetery which Coun Patchett said was in response to "public demand and changing times."
There will also be a review of the management of Park Road Cemetery following complaints from people living nearby about overhanging tree branches.
A parish council spokesman said: "The law on trees is that any neighbour has the right to trim its branches back to their boundary, provided they do not fly- tip the rubbish into the tree owner's house.
"However, an occupier voiced their feelings that the parish council should complete all the tree work.
"There is a programme of maintenance and laws regarding when tree work is allowed to happen which the council respects, but members are considering management options for the cemeteries."