17th February 2012

AXMINSTER: Council tolerating new ideas on grave plots

AXMINSTER councillors have agreed they have to tolerate changing views on how grave plots are being maintained at the town cemetery.

In discussing grave maintenance and compliance with the regulations, members of the town council’s Cemetery Commitee accepted that people’s ideas of how they wished grave plots to look had changed considerably in recent years.

They also recognised an increase in interest in less traditional burial rites such as woodland burials, which are available at Seaton. But it was felt that these could not be accommodated in the lawn cemetery at Axminster following the banning of kerb stones some years ago.

Committee chairman Sue Spiller pointed out that some styles now being adopted were not specifically forbidden by regulations as it had not been anticipated that Axminster cemetery would be other than in its present format.

It was agreed that existing departures from the norm be tolerated.