LEEK 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 the Cemetery. Any
unauthorised motor vehicle may be clamped. A release fee of £50
shall be payable to the Council.
2.
The use of bicycles, skateboards, roller- blades, roller-skates and
scooters are prohibited in the Cemetery.
3.
The Cemetery Officer reserves the right to eject or have ejected from
the Cemetery any person who acts in a manner deemed by the
Officer to constitute inappropriate behaviour.
4.
Dogs are not allowed in the Cemetery unless on a leash. Owners or
persons for the time being in charge of a dog who allow it to foul the
Cemetery 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 Cemetery 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.
No temporary markers may be placed or erected on graves including but
not limited to wooden, metal or plastic crosses and post mounted
memorial plaques.
The Council may, without notice, remove all
temporary markers and the cost of removal and disposal shall be
charged to the person responsible or the grave owner.
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.