Fresh tests at cemeteries
More tests are to be carried out on headstones in two Cannock Chase cemeteries at a cost of more than £10,000 – and any which fail risk being laid flat.
More than 1,000 gravestones are at risk of being laid flat in Cannock and Wolseley Road, Rugeley, cemeteries if they are not fixed as a matter of urgency.
Up to 1,076 headstones in the two cemeteries have still not been fixed following tests two years ago and half of those are estimated to be cases where the grave deed holder cannot be traced.
Cannock Chase District Council needs to make memorials in both cemeteries safe after the deadline for repairs passed last month but letters are to be sent out again, giving people until August to get them fixed.
The council then plans to buy a pressure test machine, train two existing cemetery employees to use it and reaffirm the results of tests in 2005 before laying flat any still not fixed. The whole process is expected to take two years.
The district council's cabinet will be asked to approve the plans at a meeting on Thursday and to allow an extra £10,710 to be set aside for the equipment and training.
Some deed holders are thought to have repaired headstones without an official permit and the council needs to see if the work meets the National Association of Memorial Mason Standards.
Headstones where no deed holder could be traced and those posing the greatest risk would be laid down first.
A report to cabinet said: "If any headstones not tested the first time are subsequently found to now fail, these will be staked as before by the council and a letter sent to the grave deed holder as per the original process."
It would cost the authority around £140,000 to repair failed gravestones and £30,000 to reimburse people who had paid for work.
