'Get rid of gravestones' says councillor (From thisisoxfordshire)

'Get rid of gravestones' says councillor

3:23pm Thursday 1st June 2006

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UNSTABLE gravestones in Bicester's cemetery have been laid flat and could be thrown away if not claimed by relatives within two years.

In the past, Bicester Town Council has repaired unsafe headstones, but councillors say it is simply becoming too expensive.

A total of 28 unsafe memorials, whose owners cannot be traced, have been laid flat or cordoned off in the cemetery.

At a meeting last week, town councillor Carol Steward said the council needed to adopt a firm policy for the future.

She told fellow councillors she believed unsafe memorials should be removed, stored for two years and then disposed of if relatives had still not come forward.

She said: "People could miss an anniversary or Christmas for two years. Any less and I think we would be doing the families a disservice.

"This is the only way the council can afford to go forward. It is a very, very costly item for which we are not actually responsible we have been doing it to be fair to everyone. We have to draw the line somewhere."

Council leader Debbie Pickford said the cemetery would be full within 18 months and headstones would have to be removed to create more space if another site had not been found.

But Miss Pickford said: "I don't think after two years we can just get rid of them, we should keep them."

She added a wall of headstones could be created as a historical record.

Councillor Les Sibley said: "There are a lot of people in the town who would be aghast if we were to tamper in any way even if it was in the interest of safety with gravestones."

Last year Bicester Town Council spent £23,000 repairing gravestones which were in danger of toppling over.

Councillors decided to discuss the matter in more detail at the council's cemetery working party before making a final decision.

More than 2,000 gravestones in Oxford were found to be unsafe and were laid flat as part of a city council safety campaign last autumn.

A similar campaign in Witney prompted the town council to reassure people that the graves of prominent historical figures would be made safe at its expense.

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