Policies and Procedures

BARDNEY CEMETERY

TERMS & CONDITIONS

This agreement applies to Bardney Cemetery situate Horncastle Road, Bardney, Lincs. LN3 5SU and has been approved and adopted by Bardney Group Parish Council at their meeting on 14 th October 2010 (Minute Item 157/10.1 refers).

Amendments: 3 rd May 2011, 19 th January 2012 (Minute Item 152/11 refers), 18 th October 2012 (Minute Item 115/2012.2 refers), 16 th November 2017 (Minute Item 270-16/11/2017 refers), 17th October 2019 (Minute reference 89-2019/20 refers)

Last Reviewed and Approved: 10 th August 2023 (Minute Ref. 86-22/23)

The terms & conditions contained within this agreement are applicable to all users and visitors to this cemetery.

Persons visiting or making use of the Council's Cemetery do so on the understanding that they shall comply with these terms & conditions in their entirety. Any person found to be not in compliance may be asked to leave and be refused future admittance to the Cemetery for such periods as the Council may prescribe and may also face fines.

A copy of this agreement will be given to each purchaser of an Exclusive Right free of charge. Copies can be provided to others on application to the parish Clerk for which a charge will be made.

Records of burials and purchased graves are kept at the parish office. Searches and extracts may be obtained during office opening hours upon payment of the appropriate fee.

This agreement will be available to view free of charge at the parish office and on the parish council website.

All enquiries please contact:

Clerk to the Council

The Parish Office
St Oswald’s Park
Horncastle Rd

Bardney

Lincoln.

LN3 5SU

Telephone: 07775 372170

Email: clerk@bardneygroup-pc.gov.uk

www.bardneygroup-pc.gov.uk

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

These terms and conditions override any previous terms and conditions and the Council reserves the right to make alterations, additions & amendments to these terms and conditions as and when necessary without prior notice.

DEFINITIONS

The Council – Bardney Group Parish Council

The Clerk – The Clerk to Bardney Group Parish Council

Purchased Grave – any plot of land at Bardney Cemetery which contains (or intends to contain) human remains for which a Grant of Exclusive Right has been issued by Bardney Group Parish Council.

GENERAL

· All visitors to the Cemetery must act in a responsible manner whilst on said grounds and shall not cause any nuisance, distress, inconvenience, annoyance or disturbance to any other persons working at or visiting the cemetery.

· All dogs must be kept securely held on a leash and not allowed to wander around. All dog excrement must be removed and safely deposited in the appropriate receptacle.

· Visitors shall not damage or interfere with nor allow others to damage or interfere with any property or fixtures belonging to the Council or any grave, headstone, memorial or other items left on a grave.

· The consumption of alcohol, smoking and the use of any illegal substances on or at the cemetery site is strictly prohibited.

· The taking of photographs, filming or recording in the cemetery is not permitted unless written agreement has been given by the Council. The Council reserves the right to charge a fee for allowing permission for same.

· Playing of games or participation in any sport is strictly prohibited.

· The use or discharge of any firearm is strictly prohibited unless the discharge of firearms is in respect of a military funeral, for which prior agreement has been given by the Council.

· All complaints must in the first instance be made to the Clerk or Chairman of the Council.

NOTICE PERIODS

Notice for an interment, installation/removal/amendment to a memorial etc must be given to the Clerk at the parish office, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 10am-2pm. The minimum notice periods are stated below:

Please note that interments at a shorter notice may be considered in exceptional circumstances, but the Council reserves the right to make an extra charge to cover any additional costs incurred

DEATH CERTIFICATES

A Registrar’s certificate, Coroner’s order for Burial or Certificate of Cremation for Burial Purposes must be delivered to the clerk at the parish office no later than the date of interment. Any person failing to deliver such a certificate or order is liable to a penalty (Births & Deaths Registration Act 1926).

FEES

All fees are revised annually. All fees must be paid to the parish office:

Bardney Group Parish Council,

The Parish Office
St Oswald’s Park
Horncastle Rd

Bardney

Lincoln.

LN3 5SU

Cheques to be made payable to Bardney Group Parish Council and must be crossed ‘Account Payee only’. Post dated cheques are not acceptable. Only official receipts signed by the Clerk or Responsible Finance Officer are valid. BACS payments are also accepted.

INTERMENTS

· Interments must take place between the hours of Monday-Saturday 10.00am - 4.00pm. Interments may take place outside these hours by special arrangement subject to an additional administration charge.

• Only coffin burials will be allowed.

· Cremated remains must be interred in an urn, casket or other receptacle designed for this purpose.

· The scattering or burial of cremated remains without the Consent of the Council is strictly prohibited and is liable to prosecution

· In the case of cremated remains, a maximum of two may be interred per cremation plot or within an existing burial plot.

· All grave spaces will be allocated by the Clerk and a plan showing the location of same will be kept at the parish office.

GRAVE DIGGING

· Only grave diggers employed by BGPC are allowed to carry out work on the site.

· All graves must be excavated by hand (i.e. no mechanical diggers to be used). Any company found to be breaking these rules will be banned from the site.

· All excavations will follow current regulations in place.

· All excess soil must be removed from the site or placed on the Council’s soil heap in the allotments adjacent to the cemetery.

RE-OPENING OF GRAVES

Once interments have taken place, a grave may only be re-opened in the following circumstances:

· For up to two successive interments of cremated remains only (burial plot)

· For up to one successive interment of cremated remains only (ashes plot)

· For exhumation purposes – only by a court order for same

VEHICLES

· No vehicles, cycles or motorcycles are allowed entry into the cemetery regardless of purpose. Any company found to be breaking these rules will be banned from the site.

· If any damage is caused to the cemetery, or items within the cemetery, by any vehicle, the person(s) driving the vehicle will be held fully responsible and will be expected to reimburse any costs incurred in repairing or reinstating such damage.

EXCLUSIVE RIGHT OF BURIAL

· When an exclusive right of burial is purchased, the full name and address of the purchaser must be supplied. The Grant will be numbered & will specify the name & address of the purchaser & details of whom it has been purchased for as appropriate.

· Purchasers shall not dispose of their rights without the written consent of the Council. Where any rights have not been exercised, the Council may, at any time (after the expiration of the time period specified in the exclusive right) re-use the grave space without notice to the purchaser.

· If a purchased grave is to be used for an interment then the grant of exclusive right must be delivered to the clerk at the parish office immediately upon notification of said interment.

· If ownership of an exclusive right is to be transferred, the grant of exclusive right must be delivered to the clerk at the parish office at the time of transfer. No transfers of ownership will be considered without such grant.

· Where the original grant has been lost or destroyed, every effort will be made to trace the grave space; however proof will be required to confirm that the person claiming the space is actually entitled to use same.

· For Exclusive Rights purchased for less than 50 years, renewal of said right may be available for an additional fee up to a maximum of 99 years.

HEADSTONES/MEMORIALS/PERSONAL ITEMS

· An exclusive right of burial must be purchased before any memorial of any kind can be erected.

· Full details of all headstones, vases or other memorials must be sent to the parish office for the Clerk to provide written approval prior to any installation takes place.

· At least 14 days notice must be given to the Clerk by masons etc before erecting an approved memorial to allow the plot to be marked out to ensure it is positioned correctly. Any memorial that has been installed without the Council marking out the correct position will have to be removed & repositioned as appropriate at the memorial mason’s own expense.

· Memorials must not be removed from the Cemetery without prior approval of the Clerk.

· The following minimum periods must have elapsed following interment before any headstone/footstone/kerb stone and/or other fixed memorial can be fitted in Burial Plots Part I,II & III:

· No minimum periods are required before headstones can be erected in Burial Plots Part IV.

· Vases not incorporated into a headstone can be placed on a burial and/or cremation plot immediately following interment.

· Permitted number and dimensions of memorials per plot:

· Full details of the sizes/dimensions must be sent to the parish office for the Clerk to provide written approval prior to any installation taking place. The parish council reserves the right to refuse any application where this may cause issues/encroach into adjoining and/or surrounding plots.

· Vases not incorporated into the original memorial must be of a robust material and not be constructed of glass, ceramic or other fragile material.

· All fixings used to secure headstones and/or other memorials must be appropriate for the area being fitted and must be installed using the recommended fixings approved by the National Association of Memorial Masons (NAMM) or the British Register of Accredited Memorial Masons (BRAMM).

· No glass, ceramic or other fragile items to be left on graves.

· A maximum of 5 personal items may be left on the grave provided that the items are on or around the headstone space. These items are left at the person’s own risk; the item does not cause offense to others & they are not placed in position where they will cause injury or damage to others or interfere with the general maintenance or grass cutting. Items may be moved to allow access for grass cutting. For excess items the Council reserves the right to ask for these items to be removed at their discretion.

• No food items are to be left as a tribute.

· If a memorial is found to be unsafe and dangerous the Council will make safe the area by cordoning off the grave or will lay the headstone down. The owner of the exclusive right for the grave will then be contacted (or a notice will be placed on the grave) for them to make arrangements to have the headstone repaired/re-fixed as appropriate. The owner of the exclusive right for the grave is responsible for all charges necessary in repairing/re-fixing said memorial. Occasionally volunteers mayclean and restore the headstone, please advise the Clerk in writing if you do not wish for this task to take place.

· Hanging of or attachment of items to trees/bushes/hedges etc. is strictly prohibited.

FLORAL TRIBUTES

Floral tributes can be left at any time but all dead flowers, wreaths or any other unsightly items must be removed from the grave as soon as possible & deposited in the appropriate receptacles provided. For items left for special occasions, the handyman will remove (if not already been done) in the following timescales:

• Christmas – items will be removed from the 21 st February

· Easter – items will be removed 4-6 weeks after the Easter holiday

· Remembrance Day – items will be removed by mid December

The planting of flowers, trees, shrubs etc on any grave is strictly prohibited.

UPKEEP & MAINTENANCE

· Upkeep & maintenance of the Cemetery grounds will be undertaken by the Council only and the use of lawn mowing/grass cutting equipment is strictly prohibited by any other party.

· The use of hand shears is permitted to trim around individual headstones only.

· Upkeep & maintenance of actual headstones/memorials themselves is the responsibility of the owner of the grant of exclusive right for that plot.

· All graves may be levelled or filled (if sinking occurs) as necessary by the Council.

· The Council reserve the right to remove from any grave any flowers, plants, trees, shrubs or any other item which the Council feels is dangerous, offensive, unsightly, overgrown or detrimental including tributes and personal items, as it deems necessary.

· All rubbish must be placed in the appropriate bins on site.

DAMAGE

To the extent that the general law permits, the Council accepts no responsibility for loss, damage or injury howsoever caused by visitors and/or dogs brought into the cemetery.

Any damage occurring at the Cemetery whether it be to gates, graves, memorials etc howsoever caused must be reported to the Clerk within 3 working days of the damage occurring. The person causing the damage shall be responsible for ensuring that the damage is rectified/repaired as soon as possible (and at their expense) and this must be done to the Council’s required standard and within the timescales specified.