Bourne wins gold for its cemetery

Bourne has one of the best kept cemeteries in the country.

The town council, which is the burial authority in Bourne, in charge of the cemetery off South Road, has scored Gold in a competition run by an industry body.

The award from the Institute of Cemeteries and Crematorium Management comes as Bourne also took a Silver Gilt in the better-known East Midlands in Bloom.

Town Clerk Ian Sismey said: “We did very well and beat the opposition hands down. We came top in the parish,town and community category.

“We have a high level of maintenance, cutting the grass, trimming the bushes. It is also about the service we give to clients. We are not a cemetery that sticks rigidly to the rules. If families want a service on a Saturday or Sunday, we will do that.”

Bourne Town Council also took a Silver Gilt in East Midlands in Bloom.

Mr Sismey continued: “We have been doing this for many years. It gives us a focus to improve the environment. It’s still about horticulture but it’s also about the community coming together and enhancing the environment.”

Coun Colin Pattison, chairman of the town council’s amenities committee, said the Gold award in the cemetery competition came after three years of hard work.

Bourne had previously won this competition in the early years of this century. It saw the town council answer 58 pages of questions before judges visited Bourne.

Coun Pattison said he was ‘chuffed to bits’ for Bourne to win Gold.

Noting East Midlands in Bloom as well, he also thanked staff and volunteers for all their hard work.

He added: “For a relatively small town we punch well over our weight and do very well. We spend a fraction of the money other towns spend.”