Council chiefs are finally following proper procedures in a bid to continue with the controversial dismantling of headstones in a Dumfriesshire cemetery.
A planning application has been made for listed building consent to make alterations to headstones at Sanquhar Cemetery as part of a region-wide memorial safety programme.
The bid for consent is “partially retrospective” – because nearly 200 of the Sanquhar headstones were dismantled and “socketed” into the ground between 2019 and 2020 without relatives being properly notified.
Dumfries and Galloway Council bosses hired a contractor to do the work, and then later admitted that no application for proper listed building consent had been made at the B-listed historic site.
The matter caused huge controversy when relatives turned up at various cemeteries to find headstones of loved ones socketed into the earth to make them safe.
Penpont man David Drife took legal action after being hit with a £2,000 estimate to repair and properly reinstate four headstones at Sanquhar Cemetery.
The application that is due to go before the planning committee next week seeks permission for works previously done, and to continue with the headstone safety scheme at Sanquhar Cemetery.
A report due to be tabled at the meeting states that 31 cemeteries, including Sanquhar, were found to be of a “very high risk to local communities” and safety works must continue. It reads: “It is proposed to carry out alterations and safety works to memorials and headstones within the burial ground as part of the memorial/headstone safety project across Dumfries and Galloway.
“The application is partially retrospective as some safety works have already taken place.
“Works at Sanquhar are only partly complete as work was paused in October 2020 as a result of issues raised during work at Sanquhar Cemetery and by the programme of works being impacted by Covid-19.
“Works will now be scheduled for completion by the end of 2022.”
New procedures are also being followed by the council, including discussions with lair holders – or funeral directors and stone masons – as well as ward councillors and community councils. The works will also be recorded properly on a spreadsheet detailing the location of each grave, the name of deceased, date of death, dimensions of the memorial, method of making safe, and a photograph.
The report states that the chairperson of Sanquhar Community Council commented on the lack of communication about the proposed safety works, and concerns were also raised that the safety method of socketing headstones could lead to the headstone inscriptions being buried.
Following a freedom of information request, the council admitted at the beginning of this year that 1,140 headstones in total had been dismantled and socketed into the ground at cemeteries across the region without relatives being properly
notified.
