'Neglected' Wolverhampton graveyard to be given makeover
A graveyard that has been 'neglected' is to be put right by the council after a former councillor made it her mission to sort it out.
Sylvia Wood, ex-councillor for Short Heath, has been campaigning for work to be carried out at the former St Thomas' Church, on Memory Lane, Wednesfield, for the last five years.
The cemetery is the joint responsibility of the nearby Victoria Court, a nursing home for adults with mental health needs, which is operated by housing provider Midland Heart and NHS Property Services.
However, the site had deteriorated, with overgrown conifers on the edge of the cemetery encroaching and causing damage to the fencing.
Ms Wood said: "It's absolutely disgusting that the graveyard has got to this stage before something is to be done about it.
"My parents are buried here and it upsets me every Sunday coming up here to see it like this."
Now, Wolverhampton Council has pledged to fix the problems at the cemetery within two weeks.
Councillor Greg Brackenridge, of Wednesfield South, has spoken to officials in the environment department who told him the site would be put right.
He said: "Though Memory Lane is outside of my ward, St Thomas' church does fall within my ward boundaries and I felt I had to do something to change things here.
"This is an important place for relatives to remember their loved ones and it should be treated with the respect it deserves."
Councillor for the Heath Town Ward, Jasbir Jaspal, also feels that the state of the cemetery should be improved.
She said: I feel that we have a responsibility to those who have been buried at the cemetery to address the problems of the fencing and the overgrown trees.
The cemetery should be regularly cared for and maintained out of respect. I'm looking forward to seeing the council carry out its remedial work on the site."
Earlier this year, hundreds of people took to the streets to protest about grave maintenance at Streetly Crematorium and Cemetery, based in Walsall.
The long-running dispute was reignited in the summer after Walsall Council issued letters to mourners ordering edgings and flowerbeds to be removed from plots.
More than 2,000 signed a petition against the move and an initial demonstration took place in Walsall town centre in August.
Campaigners held placards and banners outside Walsall Town Hall in protest. Cards with 'a cemetery is not a deposition of human remains' were held high.
