One of the purposes of the Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries has been to try and gain some clarity about how the council manages these sites – from rules and regulations, to the management plan for Sidmouth Cemetery, to its policies and indeed its general attitude towards these very special places it owns and runs in the Sid Valley.
Unfortunately, there has been a lot of mixed messaging – so that not only have members of the CSC working party been confused and frustrated, but so have members of the pubic who use and visit the site.
If messages are to get through, one way would be to use onsite signs and signage, as well as online information, press releases and making use of the media. However, this doesn’t seem to be working very well.
For example, at the District Council’s page on cemetery locations, opening times and maintenance, it says that “dogs are only allowed to enter any of our cemeteries if kept continuously on a lead and under proper control. Any fouling must be be cleaned up and removed from the cemetery.”
And yet there is no mention of this at the main entrance on Temple Street:
If we look at the entrance on Winslade it says something very different:
However, it is understood that, following communication from the CSC steering group, that this sign has now been removed – as the council’s updated policy online states that dogs on leads are allowed.
Clearly, then, new signage is needed which reflects this policy.
When it comes to the council policy over ‘rewilding’ – interpreted by some as ‘abandonment’ – the council has over the years made some attempt to communicate this. Here’s a photo taken back in 2021, with a report on rewilding in Sidmouth: the green spaces where nature will be allowed to flourish:
And yet since then, there has been very little signage, if any at all, where the council is trying to explain what its mowing regime is about.
As one commentator says, “there is a lot of room for improvement in informational signage…”
Indeed: watch this space as the CSC endeavours to work with the council on unmixing the messages.
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