IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR ALL RESIDENTS WHO HAVE PRE-PURCHASED A PLOT AT WOODBOROUGH ROE HILL CEMETERY
Woodborough Parish Council has been made aware of a DEFRA consultation that is relevant to our cemetery.
The consultation has the following name: “Consultation on Amendments to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 as applied to Groundwater Activities and related Surface Water Discharge Activities”
The proposed new regulations are set to affect the burial of human remains in cemeteries. Larger cemeteries will have to apply for permits to operate. Smaller cemeteries, like our own, will be exempt from the new regulations providing we meet a number of conditions.
The most difficult condition for us to meet is that “a grave plot must not be less than 5m2”. This is 40% bigger than our grave plots.
While new parts of the cemetery could be laid out with larger plots, we have an obvious problem in the rows that have already been used. We have dozens of unused graves nestling in between used graves, and we have no way of making these bigger. Many of these graves have been purchased by families who wish to be buried one day alongside their loved ones.
We know that many families would be devastated should these graves become unusable. We don’t know if DEFRA or the government really appreciate what this proposal would mean to normal people up and down the country.
Woodborough Parish Council has responded to the consultation.
We would urge all affected residents both to respond to the consultation (Click here for: link to the consultation) and also to write to our MP, to explain the impact that this will have on them. A link to a suggested response to the consultation follows below, and also a draft letter which includes Mark Spencer’s contact details.
Please contact the Clerk, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. , if you require any further information or if you wish us to forward your comments to our MP.
DEFRA consultation details & suggested response