At the beginning of December, the Cherishing Sidmouth Cemeteries group had a site meeting at Sidmouth Cemetery with EDDC Streetscene officers – during which the poor state of the area was remarked on by all sides, plans for how to rectify were discussed and the lack of resources were clarified.
After which, the District Council’s Sidmouth Cemetery Management Plan 2021-25 was then forwarded to CSC.
It is clear that the Plan is not being adhered to – both from the earlier site visit and from the subsequent work carried out by Streetscene, which has left the Cemetery in a worse state than before.
Here is a comment from a friend of CSC:
“Half the old cemetery still hasn’t been cut. This should have been done months ago and the brambles are taking a real hold. Some work has been done since your visit but it has been disastrous whether you are looking for a wildlife haven or a tidy resting place where families can visit to remember past relatives. There are great piles of rotting strimmed vegetation that is killing anything beneath, there are some graves completely buried in the slimy mulch.”
Here are photos taken by members and friends of CSC of the site – from this weekend, just days after the strimming of grass was undertaken in some areas and other areas were left completely untouched.
With thanks to Ed Dolphin
With thanks to Jenny Ware
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