Bramley Burial Ground – Parish Council Statement

User Rating:  / 0

Category: News from around the Parish

Last Updated on Tuesday, 01 November 2016 13:57

Published on Tuesday, 01 November 2016 13:46

Written by Parish Clerk

Hits: 15849

Residents may be aware of the recent Health & Safety inspection carried out by Basingstoke & Deane Borough Council (BDBC) on the churchyard at St James Church.  This has resulted in 31 memorials in the Parish Council Burial Ground being marked as unsafe, with the majority of these having been laid flat.  The inspection was totally unexpected, and upon checking with BDBC, it is apparent that only the area around the church should have been inspected.  It should also be noted that the Parish Council has done its own inspection within the last 12 months, and did not find that any memorials were in a bad enough condition to lay flat.  BDBC have apologised unreservedly for the error, and are going to pay for work to restore the memorials to NAMM (National Association of Memorial Masons) standards of safety.  A contractor has been appointed, and the work will be carried out over the course of the next four or five weeks.  Families of the affected plots are to be contacted. 

Moving forward, the Parish Council has made two resolutions: 

1. All new memorials in the Burial Ground shall be affixed to the current NAMM standards, and this will be written into the regulations for the Burial Ground.  All Funeral Directors in the area will be made aware of this.  Similarly, any memorials that are altered for any reason shall also be re-affixed to the current NAMM standards
   
   
2. The Parish Council shall undertake external inspections of the memorials every five years, and will engage a qualified external contractor to carry these out.  These will be publicized well in advance, and will be carried out with due sympathy to the surroundings and families of the deceased. 

Residents should be assured that the Parish Council takes its responsibilities in such matters very seriously, and strive to ensure that all issues at the Burial Ground are dealt with sensitively.