Assurance given on grave repairs
Date published: 18 August 2009
AN assurance has been given that repairs on dangerous headstones are ongoing, following a complaint by Labour councillor Dave Hibbert.
He said that the headstones, denounced as dangerous over the past six years, were causing an eyesore in Chadderton Cemetery.
The memorials were among around 10,000 in Oldham’s seven municipal cemeteries which were flattened during a national health and safety purge.
This followed the death of a boy in Salford who was crushed when an unstable headstone fell over — but caused distress for grieving relatives.
Councillor Hibbert conceded that the programme started while Labour was in power, but said that the work had appeared to halt.
He said: “Almost two years ago, as the then cabinet member for the environment, I instructed officers to look into the possibility of rectifying the situation and received assurances that they would do so.
“I think something should have been resolved by now. It just looks a mess.”
So far 70 per cent of headstones have been reinstated in Oldham at a cost of around £646,000.
Councillor Mark Alcock, cabinet member for environment and infrastructure, said it was a huge, ongoing programme at both large and small cemeteries.
He added: “This is an issue to which we as an authority are very sensitive.
“We fully understand the distress that this situation can cause and are focused on rectifying it as soon as possible.
“We are concentrating right now on Chadderton, which is a massive cemetery site.
“So far we have re-erected more than 52 per cent of the headstones that were initially laid down there.
“The work across the borough will take a further two years to complete as there has been a considerable strain on the skilled resources available for this project.
“This team is now required by Government legislation to keep re-inspecting cemetery sites and our staff have also had to support the new seven-day burial service during busy periods.
“Our team is working as hard and as fast as they can and we thank the public for their patience in this matter.”
