Issue - meetings

To receive a verbal update from the Chair of the Member Advisory Panel.

Due to the Chair Councillor Joy Bratherton and Vice Chair Mike Benson not being present at the Committee, the Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services updated the Committee on the work to-date.

Consultation and engagement had been launched with the public, this could be accessed via the Council website and ended on 9 December 2022.

An update report was due to this Committee in March.

To receive an oral update from the Chair of the Member Advisory Panel.

The Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services updated the Committee on work to date.  There was planned public engagement on the draft objectives agreed by the Panel.  Effective communication was needed to ensure it was clear to the public that the land in Sandbach, has been accepted for cemeteries plus the address of any public concerns.

The MAP had a scheduled meeting for Monday.

RESOLVED:

That the update be received and noted.

To receive an oral update from the Chair of the Member Advisory Panel.

Paul Bayley, Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services updated the Committee that there had been work towards a consultation in autumn on the high-level objectives agreed by the Member Advisory Panel.  The revised Cemeteries strategy was expected in February 2023.

There were no questions by the Committee.

RESOLVED:

That the update be received and noted.

To receive an oral update from the Chair of the Member Advisory Panel.

Councillor Joy Bratherton, the Chair of the Member Advisory Panel for the Cheshire East Cemeteries Strategy Review (MAPCSR), gave the Committee an update on the work to date.

The Committee was advised that the MAP working group of Members had visited a variety of cemeteries across the borough that included the two main ones in Crewe and Macclesfield and some smaller ones.  The main remit for the group was to consider space for the future and perceived need for sites and new methods of burial and internment of ashes.  Along with future development and update of sites not within council ownership particularly instances where some had been closing down and sent to the council to maintain.

Paul Bayley, Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services, advised the Committee that the meetings with the MAP had been concluded and a number of high level objectives to revise strategy had been agreed and work was ongoing to digitise records.  The next steps engagement and consultation with the community in September, and then feed development of that back to this Committee early in the new year with a revised strategy for consideration.

A key difficult area would be the management of collapsed memorials and regulations about how they are managed and  unauthorised memorials. 

The Committee was given the opportunity to ask questions, and it was noted that any consultation process should contain detail for those to be consulted on, with plain English that explained how things will change, with specific points rather than being general.

The Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services advised the Committee that there would be a need to develop a management plan for each cemetery.

There was further discussion about:

·         closed graveyards and the emotive and financial implications of the Council taking these on; and

·         low-energy forms of cremation

RESOLVED:

That Councillor Joy Bratherton and the Director of Environment and Neighbourhood Services be thanked for their updates.