Anger over council call to remove cemetery ‘gardens’
BEREAVED families at outraged they have been asked to remove tributes and gardens at gravesides.
Relatives say that some of the gardens at Mill Lane Cemetery in Stockport have been well-cared-for for more than a decade.
However, the council insists it is only asking them to follow a policy they signed up to.
The spat is the latest in a long-running feud – with Mill Lane Cemetery grave owners protesting a similar town hall request in 2018.
Gaynor Bradburn, whose mum, Catherine Dace, has been buried in the cemetery for 14 years, said: “This year, we got a letter which said ‘would we remove all gardens by October 29?’ and ‘if not our possessions would be removed.’
“We have minded the graves to a high standard. We had a meeting in 2018 [with cemetery staff]. They said every garden will be removed – it does not matter if it is tatty or well-kept. It is upsetting.
“We are just on pins. We could go over there and all our loved ones’ things could be destroyed.
“My mum’s garden has been there for 13-and-a-half years. I would be devastated [if it went].
“All we want is a little bit at the front which we would keep tidy.”
Gaynor, 55, accepts that some of the garden tributes are in need of removal due to a lack of TLC, but claims the majority are well-kept.
However, council bosses are adamant they are just asking the grave owners to follow an agreed policy.
The M.E.N. also understands several complaints have been made against the gardens to the council, which, along with a need to re-turf the area, has prompted the latest request.
Sheila Bailey, council cabinet member for Sustainable Stockport, said in a statement: “We understand this is an incredibly emotive issue – and our sympathies go out to all those who have lost loved ones.
“Over recent years at Mill Lane Cemetery, we have seen larger tributes, gardens or borders established at some graves. We understand that all families have their own unique ways of remembering their loved ones, and that personal items and ornaments can hold dear memories.
“However, many people have told us that they chose Mill Lane as the final resting place for their loved one specifically because it was a lawned cemetery and that the increasing number of gardens or tributes means that this is no longer the case.
“The original design of Mill Lane as a lawned cemetery is explained at the time a bereavement takes place and a family is considering Mill Lane Cemetery, and when a grave is purchased.
“The council has previously written to grave owners at Mill Lane Cemetery to ask that gardens, borders or ornaments be removed. Many people responded to this request when it was made in 2018. Since then we have sought to engage with individual grave owners where we know gardens or larger displays have been placed.
“Following this initial letter a number of grave owners did remove their items. We wrote again to those people who hadn’t removed items asking them to remove them by 29 October. As yet nothing has yet been removed from any graves without the grave owners’ express permission.”