Southborough Town Council is responsible for the maintenance of Southborough Cemetery and St Peter’s Closed Churchyard, Southborough. The Council intend to undertake a Memorial Safety Programme covering all memorials at both sites. This is a legal obligation under the Local Authorities’ Cemetery Order 1977 and the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
The work will be conducted in a sympathetic manner by an experienced and respected contractor.
The purpose of the work is two-fold:
- To identify any unstable memorials that could cause serious injury to visitors and maintenance staff.
- To produce a comprehensive and up-to-date record of every memorial.
The database will be a useful resource for the Council, and anyone interested in the memorials.
The number of memorials that are sufficiently dangerous as to cause serious injury is expected to be small, based on previous inspection data. Those that present an immediate risk to cemetery users and maintenance staff will be made safe. Although memorials are private property, the Council has a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and must carry out inspections accordingly. However, as memorials are private property, the owners of affected memorials will then be contacted and advised about long-term repairs needed.
The Memorial Safety Programme is scheduled to commence in the new financial year after 1st April 2023, subject to weather conditions. During the period of the works, members of the public will still be able to visit the cemetery and closed churchyard, and the specialist contractor appointed by the Council will be more than happy to answer any queries in person.
Please direct all enquiries relating to this notice to:
Office Administrator, Southborough Town Council, Council Offices, Southborough Civic Centre, 137 London Road, Southborough, KENT TN4 0NA
TEL: 01892 529176
