MEMORIAL SAFETY AND MAINTENANCE
Safety
Our grounds maintenance partner Veolia are responsible for checking graves to ensure they are safe on a regular basis.
If you place a memorial in the cemetery the memorial remains the property of its owner/s and does not become the property of the Authority at any time.
You are required to maintain your memorial to a safe condition. Regular maintenance by an approved mason is recommended – they will inspect it and professionally carry out any repairs needed. You may wish to discuss and purchase insurance cover for your memorial.
As the land owner, the Watford Borough Council is obliged to ensure its grounds remain safe places for the public.
All memorials over 500mm high are tested and if a memorial fails the test you will either be notified by writing where possible or an attachment will be placed on the memorial to inform you it is unsafe. Some memorials may be placed in a flat position to ensure immediate safety.
A ground anchor system has been used in the majority of memorial fixings since 2000 on memorials over 500mm in height and any older memorial that fails the safety test will be required to be re-fixed with the ground anchor system used.
Cemetery memorial and maintenance
Our staff are fully aware of the need to maintain the cemetery to a high standard.
The majority of this maintenance involves grass cutting by ride on mower and strimmer.
Unfortunately strimming grass does cause the cuttings to blow onto the memorials as the staff work.
Grass cuttings will not damage the memorial and can be wiped off.
If you believe that grounds maintenance work or grave excavation work has affected your memorial, please contact a member of staff to discuss so that it can be inspected and assessed.
Although this may be upsetting for you, please remember that staff will never intentionally do anything that may cause damage to any memorial.
The regulations regarding memorials in our cemeteries can be found here...