TOWN HALL AND CEMETERY COMMITTEE
Minutes of a meeting of Market Deeping Town Council's Town Hall and Cemetery committee
held on Wednesday 19 th May 2010 at 8.00pm in the Town Hall, Market Deeping.
Chairman Cllr Stephenson presided over Cllrs Lester and Tokens.
1. Chairman's Welcome
Cllr Stephenson welcomed all to the meeting.
2. Apologies for Absence and Declarations of Interest.
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Ms Tray. No declarations of interest made
3. Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 25 th March 2010
As neither Cllr Lester nor Cllr Tokens had been present at the March meeting, they were unable to validate the content of the minutes as being a true and accurate record. The minutes remained unsigned, and were to be presented in June's Full Council meeting for discussion.
4. Matters arising
- New curtains had now been installed in the Town Hall Chambers. Cllr Lester offered to dispose of the old curtains by putting them into the ‘Bag 2 school' campaign at William Hildyard School , whereby funds raised through the campaign would go directly back into the school. Members agreed to accept Cllr Lester's offer
- Cllr Stephenson confirmed that he had sent a letter to Mr Bowd in response to his complaint about the Cemetery
5. Cemetery Projects
The Spinney Project: - members discussed options for the development of The Spinney, including it becoming a green burial site. They agreed that they needed answers to questions such as how would MDTC maintain such an area, and was there a demand for a green burial site. Members resolved that the following question be posed to residents in the next Council newsletter, as a way of gauging the demand for such development; Do you think it would be a good use of The Spinney to create an area for the scattering (burial) of ashes in the future? Yes/No replies to be encouraged to be received by the Council by early September 2010. Members agreed it would also be beneficial for a work flow analysis to be conducted by the Amenities Manager to ascertain MDTC's capacity to maintain the site.
6. ‘Desired States Workshop' for Cemetery
Members agreed that there were several areas surrounding the Cemetery that would need to be reviewed in depth, possibly via desired state workshops, but resolved that it would be wise for the focus to be solely on The Spinney project at this time. They agreed that, in conjunction with the public consultation via the newsletter, a workshop should be held with invitees to include local undertakers, gravediggers, cemetery staff, amenities manager and councillors and that this should be done early in September 2010. Members agreed that the outcomes of the public consultation and the workshop could then be reviewed by the TH&C committee at their September meeting with a view to making final recommendations to Full Council in October.
7. Keyholder details for Lincolnshire Police
Members resolved that contact details for the Chairman of the TH&C committee, the Clerks, and the Amenities Manager should be passed to the police for their records.
8. Review of policy on reservation of spaces in Market Deeping Cemetery
Members were advised that there was estimated there would be no more interment of ashes spaces within 4 years and no more spaces for burials within 8 years in the current Cemetery. Members considered various options regarding the future of the cemetery, including the restriction of eligibility and changes to Exclusive Rights of Burials (reservations). Members resolved that changes should be made to reflect that only people who were residents of Market Deeping could take out Exclusive Rights of Burials, and that these Rights should only be valid for a fixed term (e.g. 5 or 10 years) and thereafter a renewal of the Rights would be required to secure the plot of land. Members also resolved that burial requests should only be granted for those people who had resided in Market Deeping at the time of their death.
9. Review of the Memorial Rose Garden policy
Members read through the policy and resolved that it was to be clarified in the policy that it was the public's responsibility to contact the Town Council if they wished to renew their rose in the Memorial Rose Garden beyond 5 years, and that the fee for the renewal would be £90. Members confirmed that the policy should remain that if the 5 years had lapsed, and no renewal had been applied for, then the Cemetery Keepers would remove the rose and plant it elsewhere in the Cemetery, and remove and store the plaque for safekeeping.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.05pm. The next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday the 7 th July 2010 at 7.30pm, to be held at the Market Deeping Cemetery .
