Ruardean Burial Ground - URGENT ACTION (Announce)

by slowhands , proud of his ancient Dean Forest roots, Friday, December 25, 2009, 18:47 (5479 days ago) @ unknown

Thank you for publishing this

I'm going to recheck for some of my "tree" - horrified

Keen to know when the Solicitors are open for business - Jan 4th at a guess :-(

The sale will be subject to the provisions of the Disused Burial Grounds (Amendment) Act 1981. This means that it will then be the responsibility of the buyer to maintain the burial ground and to ensure that all legal requirements are complied with. This includes making facilities available for family members and others to visit the burial ground, usually on prior notice. The purchaser should be bound by covenant to allow access to the public on notice.

When the burial ground is being sold the sale will often be the subject of numerous specific covenants or premises both positive and negative binding on the new owner to try and ensure that people are still able to visit the graves, that the grounds are maintained, and the legal framework in the Disused Burial Grounds (Amendment) Act 1981 is followed and memorials are not wilfully and inappropriately damaged.

Building work can, however, be undertaken if a disused burial ground is acquired by a Local Authority and planning permission has been granted for the development. It is not necessary for the development to be used by the Local Authority.

Building work can also be undertaken on a disused burial ground if the procedures set out in the Disused Burial Grounds (Amendment) Act 1981 are followed. This involves notices and advertisements similar to that described above in connection with moving headstones. The Department for Constitutional Affairs and Commonwealth War Graves Commission should be informed of plans at an early stage.

Burial grounds can only be developed for purposes other than a church extension where the burial ground has never been used for human burials or where no relative or personal representative of the deceased buried on the grounds objects to the development.

Where building work that will disturb human remains is to be carried out, all remains MUST be exhumed and re-interred, whether or not relatives have come forward. The church must pay for this and the process is expensive.

The church or any owner of the burial ground cannot begin to erect any building on the burial ground until the human remains have been removed and the headstones and memorials removed in accordance with the necessary procedures described below, please see the section on Removing Human Remains.
Guidance notes are also available from the Department for Constitutional Affairs (telephone 0207 210 0036).

It is an offence to remove or to disturb human remains without complying with appropriate procedures.

Removal of human remains from a graveyard will require a licence and this must be obtained before work begins from the Department for Constitutional Affairs, Coroners Unit, 5th Floor, Steel House, 11 Tothill Street, London, SW1H 9LH, telephone 0207 210 0036, fax 0870 739 5849 or email general.enquiries@dca.gsi.gov.uk.

In 2007 (?) the Coroners division was tranferred to the MoJ

Coroners Division,
Ministry of Justice,
5th Floor, Steel House,
11 Tothill Street,
London
SW1H 9LH

Phone: 020 7210 0049 / 0066
Fax: 0870 739 5849

http://www.justice.gov.uk/index.htm

and specific notes re Burials
http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/burials.htm

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Ἀριστοτέλης A Gloster & Hereford Boy in the Forest of Dean ><((((*>