CEMETERY REGULATIONS
1.
No motor vehicles including motorcycles other than those used by
Council employees or contractors employed by the Council and
registered Memorial Masons are permitted in Leek Cemetery.
Vehicles may only use the main driveway and car park at Buxton
Road Cemetery.
2.
The use of bicycles, skateboards, roller-blades, roller-skates and
scooters are prohibited in the Cemeteries.
3.
The Cemetery Officer reserves the right to eject or have ejected from
the Cemeteries any person who acts in a manner deemed by the
Officer to constitute inappropriate behaviour.
4.
Dogs are not allowed in the Cemeteries unless on a leash. Owners
or persons for the time being in charge of a dog who allow it to foul
the Cemeteries shall be liable to prosecution.
5.
The Council accepts no responsibility for making good any damage
caused to monuments, gravestones or graves through ordinary wear
and tear, severe weather conditions or other circumstances over
which it has no control.
6.
No tree or shrub shall be planted in the Cemeteries without the
permission of the Council. Any unauthorised tree or shrub may be
removed and disposed of without notice.
7.
No kerb or other form of surround shall be placed around a grave.
The Council may, without notice, remove any unauthorised surround,
and the cost of the removal and disposal shall be charged to those
responsible or the grave owner.
8.
Railings or other enclosures shall not be erected around any
monument or gravestone. The Council may, without notice, remove
any unauthorised railings and the cost of removal and disposal shall
be charged to those responsible or the grave owner.
9.
An application to erect a headstone shall be submitted to the
Cemetery Officer on the form provided and the selection of any
grave space shall be subject to the approval of the Council. The
Cemetery Officer’s decision in respect of the allocation of the grave
space shall be final.
10.
Before a burial takes place a Notice of Interment must be completed
on the form provided by the Council and delivered to the Cemetery
Officer who shall first approve the same.
A Certificate of
Registration of Death or a Coroners Order for Burial shall also be
delivered to the Cemetery Officer such that it is received on a day
not including Saturdays, Sundays or Bank Holidays at least 24 hours
before the appointed time of interment. Failure to provide either
document and obtain the approval of the Cemetery Officer may
result in the postponement or cancellation of the interment by the
Council.
11.
Only Council employees or Council employed contractors will be
allowed to excavate graves. The Council will fill in unauthorised
graves and the cost charged to those responsible for the excavation.
12.
Anyone acting as a bearer during an interment does so at his or her
own risk and the Council will accept no responsibility for any resulting
accident or injury to a bearer howsoever caused.
13.
If an existing grave is required to be reopened for the purposes of an
interment, the person responsible for the funeral shall ensure that
before the grave is reopened, the grave owner provides a completed
Notice of Disclaimer form to the Cemetery Officer. If so required by
the Officer, the memorial or gravestone and any base, kerbstone and
foundation must be removed from the Cemetery and delivered to the
premises of a registered Memorial Mason. Failure to complete the
disclaimer may result in the postponement or cancellation of the
interment.
14.
Temporary grave markers such as wooden crosses may be placed or
erected on graves for a maximum period of one year from the date of
the burial. Upon expiry of this period the Council will, in all cases and
without notice, remove and dispose of these markers.
15.
Memorial Masons must be registered under the Councils Memorial
Registration Scheme before they will be permitted to carry out work
in the Council’s Cemeteries.
16.
No memorial may be removed from the Cemetery unless and until
the Council has first consented in writing to such removal and has
been provided with a copy of written instruction of removal sent to a
Memorial Mason by the owner of the Right of Burial in the grave (or
their Executor or Personal Representative). If a memorial is removed
in breach of this regulation the Council shall charge the person
responsible with the cost of any works undertaken by the Council to
repair any damage caused. The Council may not permit the erection
of any further memorial upon the grave space in question.
17.
Except in the case of urgency where the Council reserves the right to
carry out necessary repairs and recharge the owner of the grave, all
private graves and vaults, monuments, memorials and gravestones,
shall be kept in good repair by the grave owner, unless a special
agreement is made with the Council. Where safety repairs are in the
opinion of the Council required a notice will be sent to the grave
owner or other responsible person. The notice shall specify the
works required and the grave owner or other responsible person
shall complete such works within six months of the date of the notice.
Failure to comply with the notice may cause the Council to remove
any such grave, vault, monument or gravestone, level the ground
and lay turf. The cost of removal, disposal and associated works
shall be charged to the grave owner or other responsible person.
18.
The Council accepts no responsibility for the condition of any
memorial, grave, headstone or monument within the Cemetery.
19.
No memorial can be erected on any grave unless and until the
Council has consented to such erection and has been provided with
a copy of the written instruction of erection sent to a Memorial Mason
by the owner of the Right of burial or other responsible person. No
memorial will be allowed on any grave where the Right of Burial has
not been purchased. Any unauthorised memorials are subject to
removal by the Council without notice and the cost of removal and
disposal shall be charged to the owner of the Right of Burial or other
responsible person.
20.
No memorial erected on a single grave space shall exceed 90cm
(3ft.) in height, 75 cm (2ft. 6ins.) in width and 10cm (4ins.) in
thickness.
21.
All memorials shall be fixed on approved foundations, constructed
from durable natural stone, marble, granite or slate and shall comply
with all statutory requirements and the current NAMM Code of
Working Practice. No memorial constructed in artificial or soft stone
or glazed earthenware shall be allowed. The Council, without notice,
may remove memorials erected in contravention of this regulation
and the cost of removal and disposal shall be charged to the owner
of the grave or other responsible person.
22.
Drawings of every proposed headstone, tablet or vase with their
dimensions and a copy of the intended inscription must be submitted,
on the form provided by the Cemetery Officer and approved by the
Council before erection. If a memorial photograph forms part of the
design, the position and fixing details should be noted on the
application. Only one photograph per memorial of an oval shape no
larger than 10cms (4ins.) x 7.5cm (3ins.) (including frame) will be
allowed. Any memorial application will expire two years from the
date of approval unless the memorial is erected and a new
application must then be submitted to and approved by the Council.
23.
Memorial Masons employed in fixing memorials shall remove all
spare spoil and turf from the Cemetery and clean up the ground
carefully after completing their work. They shall be responsible for
any damage caused either to the Cemetery or the memorials erected
within and shall make good such damage at their own expense to the
reasonable satisfaction of the Council. Failure to do so may result in
the Council invoking the penalty clauses set out in the Memorial
Registration Scheme.
The Council may also commence civil
proceedings in respect of any loss or damage caused to the
Cemetery by the Memorial Mason, his servants or agents.
24.
Any memorial removed by the Council as a result of a breach of
these regulations shall be stored for a maximum period of three
months prior to disposal by way of sale if possible. Any proceeds of
sale shall be set against the cost of removal disposal and other
associated costs which the Council has incurred as a result of
carrying out works to the grave space following an unauthorised
removal. Any proceeds not so applied shall be paid into a Cemetery
Maintenance Account and shall be used by the Council to maintain
the Cemetery.
25.
No fixing of memorials or any other work shall take place within the
Cemetery on Saturdays and Sundays including Bank Holidays.
Memorial Masons and contractors shall leave the Cemetery by 4
p.m.
Buxton Road Cemetery has been laid out as a Lawn Cemetery. In addition to
the regulations listed above, the following apply to Buxton Road Cemetery.
1.
Graves are available for a maximum of two interments (plus
cremated remains).
2.
There is no pre-purchasing of graves.
3.
Creating gardens or placing articles onto the grave space is not
allowed.
4.
Approval for a memorial will be granted a minimum of six months
after the burial has taken place (excluding cremated remains graves).
These Regulations should be read in conjunction with the Memorial
Registration Scheme issued by Staffordshire Moorlands District
Council and the Local Authority’s Cemetery Order 1977, a copy of
which can be obtained from Her Majesty’s Stationery Office.