Parishioners gave their in-principle backing to a proposal from the Parochial Cemetery Committee to hand over their duties in the new year, with any final details likely to be ratified at the next parish meeting in March.
They also accepted the resignation of the committee’s members to take effect at some point early in 2027.
Committee president Denise Cohu told the parish meeting that the move, similar to one already made by several other parishes, had been under consideration for some time.
‘We believe that a new, robust committee under the control of the constables will be able to manage the cemetery to the level required today, probably make efficiencies and mitigate against risk, which is really important,’ she said.
Risks relating to modern health and safety and data protection requirements were said to have become too great for a separate group of volunteers to shoulder.
‘The reason we’re resigning is that it has come to light over the past few years that we are personally liable if something goes wrong down there and there is a claim,’ said cemetery committee member Bill Cohu.
‘I didn’t volunteer to be personally liable with my own assets. That’s the reason I’m going and I’m sure it’s the same for the other members.’
Brian de Jersey, who had previously served on the committee for more than 30 years, outlined that the committee was established in 1921 and sanctioned by an order in council the following year. It has responsibility for more than 3,000 graves.
He questioned the legal advice about personal liability and asked for the proposed reforms to be deferred and voted on by the whole parish. But neither of these points was considered further.
Mr de Jersey was also concerned that that committee’s most-recent accounts had not been posted online and about changes to the way its business was being administered, which he feared could be outside the agreed rules.
But Mrs Cohu was certain the rules had been followed.
‘Whether you leave it to a separate committee or hand it over to the constables, there are still going to be the same problems,’ said Mr de Jersey. ‘And will the constables have the time do it?’
He said that running parish cemeteries was a sensitive task.
‘It’s the worst time in someone’s life when they lose a family member they loved so dearly. You’ve got to be able to console them and advise them and help them with regard to their wishes regarding burial.
‘With something so serious as handing the whole of the cemetery over to the constables, I think it should be deferred, like the election of the constable, for the whole parish to know the full details about what’s happening.’
Mrs Cohu said that cemeteries were being ‘run perfectly smoothly’ in other parishes which had also transferred responsibility to their constables.
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