Extension to Alyth Cemetery approved
An extension of Alyth Cemetery, which will meet the demands of the community for burial plots over the next 100 years, has been approved by Perth and Kinross Council.
- By Eric Nicolson
- Published in the Courier : 02.09.10
- Published online : 02.09.10 @ 06.13pm
The expansion — unanimously agreed by the local authority's environment committee — will add 550 burial lairs and 96 ashes casket lairs. As it stands the cemetery is rapidly approaching capacity.
Planning permission for the extension, on former farmland, was granted in December.
The work to increase burial space will be carried out in three phases, with the first providing around 15 years of space and also improving the cemetery car park and entrance.
The construction will now proceed with tendering for a contract for the works. Ongoing maintenance of the extension will be incorporated into the existing care for the cemetery.
Council leader Ian Miller represents the ward and he said, "I am very pleased to see this very necessary extension to our cemetery going ahead. It has been clear for some time that the existing cemetery area was very near capacity and that additional space was needed.
"It has taken some years to have this matter finally resolved but I am delighted that the process of purchasing the land, obtaining the necessary planning consent and completing the design work has now culminated in today's positive decision by the council's environment committee.
"This extension will meet the burial needs of the Alyth community for the next century."
Collapsed headstones have been a continual problem for the council at local graveyards in recent years and Councillor Ian Campbell felt the extension could have provided an opportunity to be more strict.
He said, "I was wondering if there is an opportunity to put in place different conditions for headstones, such as only being flat to the ground or 24 inches high, to avoid future costs."
Committee convener Councillor Alan Grant, said, "I would hesitate to go as far as this because you would be restricting what you can do to commemorate a loved one."
It was pointed out that "concrete rafting" is now used to fix headstones — an improvement on past techniques. A council official said this has proved "very successful" and added that height restrictions are already in place.
"Time will tell," Mr Grant said.
Photo used under a Creative Commons licence courtesy of Flickr user Lara604.
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