Gravestones loss warning
Around 1,000 headstones at Cannock's cemetery that were deemed unsafe in controversial tests have not yet been repaired and many could be laid flat or removed next year if work is not done.Around 1,000 headstones at Cannock's cemetery that were deemed unsafe in controversial tests have not yet been repaired and many could be laid flat or removed next year if work is not done. Temporary stakes were put on more than 1,200 headstones and memorials that failed the tests last year in a bid to make them safe while awaiting work. It is estimated only 10 per cent of those have been fixed. Grave deed holders were given two years - up to May next year - to fix memorials, and as many as 1,000 memorials may still need repairing when the deadline expires. Read the full story in the Express & Star
Temporary stakes were put on more than 1,200 headstones and memorials that failed the tests last year in a bid to make them safe while awaiting work.
It is estimated only 10 per cent of those have been fixed.
Grave deed holders were given two years - up to May next year - to fix memorials, and as many as 1,000 memorials may still need repairing when the deadline expires.
Cannock Chase District Council will not meet costs of repairs and its cabinet will be asked to back this position on Thursday. The council expects that, when the deadline passes, there will be headstones with temporary stakes where no grave deed holder can be traced or has been contacted but no repairs done.
Officers will write to those who have not yet applied for a permit to fix their memorial, asking for the work to be done within one month.
A report to cabinet says that if no response is received from the second letter, the council will update its notices and website making it clear that temporary supports will go and the headstone/memorial be laid flat on the body of the grave with the inscription facing upward.
When it became evident the council will not fund repairs it was anticipated large numbers would contact the council.
A list of all defective headstones will be posted in cemeteries, on the council's website and in local newspapers.
Headstones would not be laid flat in Rugeley's Stile Cop Cemetery as headstones are positioned back to back on concrete runners.
Memorials without headstones at the back will be moved to another part of the cemetery. In tests, 5,309 passed and 2,860 failed. Of those, 1,279 were staked.
By Michelle Pearson
