Bishop's Waltham Parish Council
Annual Report April 2010 – February 2011

West Hoe Cemetery Management Committee - Chairman’s Report

This has been a productive year on the West Hoe Cemetery Management Committee. We started the year with issues to be resolved from the previous year. We took delivery of the metal cages to protect the floral tributes on new internments. This was to stop deer and rabbits eating all the flowers on the new burials. We also took delivery of the smaller cages to protect longer term floral tributes again to stop Bambi and Thumper eating the flowers; the Committee is able to supply these covers at cost for any family that wishes to protect flowers without the use of green plastic mesh. Many thanks go to the Clerk of the Committee and the previous Chair for visiting steel workers to fettle the design.

The Committee has arranged for the printing and distribution of a new information leaflet to enable us to extol the virtues of our extraordinary facility at West Hoe. The brochure has been distributed with the Swanmore Parish Magazine; Bishop’s Waltham is arranging distribution with its newsletter. Local funeral directors and stone masons have been circulated with copies as have the local churches and parishes. Our much appreciated Clerk has been staying in touch with local burial authorities to be aware of pricing and reports to the Committee every year to ensure we remain reasonable, fair and competitive in our pricing.

The gates of the cemetery have been repainted to enable our facility to look ‘as if we care’ and the contractor did a super job on our behalf.

Health and safety checks were carried out on standing memorials by the Committee and any repairs needed were carried out by a firm of local stonemasons.

We have this year discussed the implementation of a health and safety programme, taking advice from experienced members of the Committee, again this is an ongoing programme and will build on work done in previous years. We have an ongoing programme of maintenance which is now being carried forward every year.

Roger Barrow, our contractor, is regularly praised for the standard of maintenance of the grounds; he carries out his work with care and commitment.

The budget setting round this year has been both considered and difficult, as it is always difficult to predict the numbers of people that will be interred at West Hoe. This year we are expecting the number of internments to remain stable with previous years. Expenditure is therefore expected to remain within budgeted planning. After difficult meetings with the Parish Councils budgetary Committees we have arrived at an agreement where the West Hoe Cemetery Management Committee will only approach the Parishes if funds are needed to enable them to carry out their statutory obligations, as a cemetery has only one main source of income, unfortunately this is a sad one.

Finally and on a much happier note, every year we hold a memorial service at West Hoe, a really moving and generous opportunity for loved ones to be remembered by all that attend. It is a multi denominational service suitable for those that aspire to no recognised religion. I wish more of the Councillors would attend to swell the numbers and add their voices to those who attend annually.

I wish to thank both Councils and our ex-offico members for their support through this year and giving me the privilege to be Chair of this wonderful and challenging Committee. Finally, a reminder that this is a Committee open to all members of both Councils to attend.

Cllr David McLean
February 2011