A group who has been campaigning to stop Renfrewshire Council toppling headstones in local cemeteries has held a protest rally outside Renfrewshire Council HQ.
The group also entered Renfrewshire House, in Cotton Street, Paisley and handed the petition, signed by around 1500 people, to a receptionist.
Headstones are the property of private individuals which reside on council-land. Councils across Scotland retain the duty of care for safety within cemeteries and churchyards.
Back in May 2015, Ciaran Williamson, aged eight, died after a headstone fell on him while playing with friends at Craigton Cemetery in Cardonald.
The Scottish Government published burial ground memorial safety guidance for local authorities in 2019, with the Council approving its policy following this guidance in January 2020.
Since January 2020, Renfrewshire Council has been carrying out a programme of inspections on 57,000 lairs across nine cemeteries and 14 churchyards. This programme of initial inspections is almost complete.
Headstone identified as having movement or insufficient fixing that have to be rectified immediately are laid flat.
Renfrewshire Council have previously said it isn’t always possible to reach lair owners before work is carried out as there is a safety requirement to ensure headstones are laid flat as soon as a risk is identified.
However, an action group that was created to fight the council’s decision of toppling gravestones disagree.
Friends of Hawkhead Cemetery group claim there are alternative methods of dealing with the issue of Scottish Government regulations regarding headstones.
And their petition, on Thursday, called for the local authority to stop toppling headstones and instead use the methods employed by other councils, East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire and East Ayrshire – like staking, repairing or sinking headstones further into the ground – to make the stone memorials safe.
The group had written to Renfrewshire Council with alternative suggestions of dealing with the safety of headstones. But bosses were adamant that their methods of mass toppling of headstones should continue, claiming that other ways of dealing with the issue weren’t ‘feasible’.
A Renfrewshire Council spokesperson said: “We have a duty of care for safety within our cemeteries and our fully qualified staff have been assessing headstones and carefully lying flat unsafe headstones in line with Scottish Government guidance issued following the tragic death of a child in a Scottish cemetery.
“We understand how emotive it is for families when a headstone has to be laid flat and this is only ever done when it poses a significant risk to safety due to movement or insufficient fixings.
“Unfortunately, it isn’t always possible to reach lair owners before work is carried out and marker notices are placed on memorials and headstones with details for how lair holders can contact the Council to ensure their memorial meets the required safety standards. There is also signage at each cemetery with the same information.”