Reclaiming grave slots (From Penarth Times)

Reclaiming grave slots

7:20am Thursday 27th September 2012 in Letters

LOCAL residents will be aware that land available for full interments at Penarth Cemetery is running out and despite the town council’s best efforts to free as much space as possible, there will come a time, estimated to be four to five years, when it will not be possible to accommodate full interments.

There will continue to be space for the interment of cremated remains as the land requirements for this type of interment are different, and as such can be accommodated in areas within the cemetery considered to be unsuitable for full interments.

Under powers granted to a burial authority under the local authorities cemeteries order, the town council is able to reclaim pre-purchased graves where the exclusive right of burial was granted over 75 years ago and where the right has not been exercised.

There are a number of such graves at Penarth Cemetery where the owners cannot be traced, and if these graves are reclaimed they would provide space for full interments.

To reclaim a grave space the town council has to follow a legal procedure and a public notice has to be published in a local paper and notices displayed at the cemetery. If the holder of the exclusive right does not come forward within six months of the date of the public notice then the town council can reclaim the unused grave.

A notice appears in the public notice section of this newspaper and will appear again next week. The public notice lists the grave space numbers of the graves where the holders cannot be traced. It is not possible to list the name and last known address of the holders for data protection reasons.

The town council emphasises that this exercise affects pre-purchased graves where the rights were granted over 75 years ago and those rights have not been exercised, therefore no interment has taken place.

If you have any queries in relation to this, or if you are the holder of the exclusive rights or believe you are the holder of the rights of any of the grave spaces listed in the public notice, please contact us on 029 2070 0721 and ask to speak to Paulene Evans or David Fleet or e-mail bookings@penarthtowncouncil.gov.uk Penarth Town Council