LETTER: More maintenance is needed at Tibshelf cemetery please

However, because of the pressures placed on local government during these times of austerity, my attitude is normally one of ambivalence. However, after my latest fortnightly visit, I was appalled at the even greater lack of maintenance, with grass over a foot high in places, and generally exceeding six inches overall. To my mind, this displays a total lack of respect for those who have gone before, and it creates an environment totally unacceptable to those who visit the churchyard to pay their respects.

I realise that we are now in the growing season where plants seem to shoot up overnight, but surely mowing schedules could be tailored to reflect different growing rates at different times of the year. I met someone in the churchyard who was equally as disgusted as I was, and he pointed out that, where his wife comes from, churchyards are maintained in a generally neat and tidy manner. His wife comes from Poland, a country which is nowhere as rich as the United Kingdom.

I believe Bolsover District Council needs to reconsider its policy regarding churchyard maintenance, to one which pays attention to public feeling and sensitivities.

Michael Coupe

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