In recent years there has been increased focus on the stability of memorials in cemeteries and risks to cemetery users. Nationally this has been highlighted by three fatal accidents to children from falling memorials, though thankfully none in Hastings.
The Health Safety Executive (HSE) requires each local council to introduce a Memorial Safety Policy that sets an erection safety standard for their cemeteries and closed churchyards.
The HSE also requires all local councils to test and record the stability of all existing memorials.
Many people will have seen the upset to relatives and adverse publicity this exercise has caused in other towns; Hastings is determined to have learnt from this and will deal with safety in a more sensitive way.
This is an enormous job. Within Hastings Cemetery alone it is believed we have up to 40,000 memorials, not including those in closed churchyards. Hastings Borough Council takes Health and Safety very seriously and will carry out the safety audit diligently but in a caring way, recognising the enormously emotive consequences for families across our town and beyond.
The Memorial Safety scheme, which has now begun, is based on a rolling programme testing a limited number of memorials each week.
These tests are carried out by staff using a calibrated testing device called a topple tester.
This machinery applies a force of up to 35kg or the equivalent of a person pulling themselves up from a kneeling position in front of the headstone.
When a memorial fails the test we carry out an individual risk assessment, taking into account the possible danger posed by the memorial and the sensitivity of the issue.
To minimise the distress caused through laying down memorials in the cemetery workers will start in opposite corners, systematically working from two different points on alternate weeks.
We will be also taking into account the historic and cultural significance of certain memorials.
Noticeboards have already been put up in the cemetery to provide information and details of the next sections due for testing in the next four to six weeks. Notifications will also be sent to grave owners at their last recorded address with us. A monthly notification of sections to be tested will appear in the Hastings Observer. Grave owners will be notified by recorded delivery post of the failure of a memorial and requested to advise us of the remedial action they intend to take.
Throughout the testing period the Cemetery Office staff will be available to offer information help and guidance. They can be contacted on 01424 781302/781303
In April history was made at the town hall when three people were sworn in during the first Citizenship Ceremony in Sussex.
Superintendent Registrar of Hastings and Rother, officiated and Phyllida Stewart-Roberts, Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex, handed over certificates.
Becoming an official “citizen” is now recognised as a life changing event and the ceremony marks the importance of the occasion. In America and Canada ceremonies have taken place for several years.
East Sussex County Council’s registration service is responsible for the service.
The Home Office predicts up to 500 new citizens will be sworn in each year in East Sussex.
The Fair Trade Foundation has a big agenda: To change the way countries trade in order to stamp out poverty in developing countries,
The charity believes everyone can help in the fight against poverty and a good start is buying Fair Trade products from coffee to jewellery.
When you pick up a product bearing the Fair Trade logo you know the people behind it have been given a fair price for their wares.
In Hastings, Fair Trade supporters have a regular stand at the Park Road Methodist Church coffee morning.
They said:
“It’s about providing opportunities for people in third world countries to have a mark in this country. It means we guarantee that the growers and the producers always get a fair price for their produce.”
For more information about Fair Trade or to arrange for a stall at a community event telephone 01424 460727.
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This page last updated: 24/08/2004