September 2025 Minutes
Minutes of the Cemetery Committee meeting held on Tuesday 2 September 2025 at 7.00pm at Deeping St James Cemetery.
Present: Councillors Halls, Hosking, Laws, Shinkins-Hoppe and Stevens
26.14 To receive apologies of absence.
Apologies had been received and were accepted from Councillor Townsin.
26.15 To receive any declarations of interest.
None declared.
26.16 To agree the minutes of the last meeting held on Tuesday 2 July 2025.
Agreed and signed.
26.17 Clerks report.
-There have 4 cremated remains interments (2 double depth and 2 single depth) and one burial since the last meeting on 22 July and a further 2 cremated remains interments (in a double depth plot) will take place on Thursday 4 September 2025
-The Clerk has spoken to the Cemetery maintenance worker who will complete a recorded memorial safety check working alone or with Councillor Laws on a date to be arranged.
-A local tree services company has been asked to provide a quotation for the removal of the Conifer hedge on the boundary of the Hereward Way properties.
ACTION: A quotation had been received and it was agreed that although this task could be completed in-house it would take the maintenance team away from completing other duties and generate a large amount of waste which would be costly to remove and dispose of. It was agreed to accept the quotation for the contractor to complete the task.
-Photographs of the condition of tarmac on the Lincolnshire County Council public right of way running through the Cemetery have been forwarded to the County Councillor Area Highways Manager and Senior Countryside Officer requesting that action is taken.
-The Clerk is seeking advice as to there a disclaimer can be added to the Cemetery regulations relating to damage to memorials.
-The exhumation applied for by family members which was approved by the Ministry of Justice on 23 June 2025 took place on Thursday 21 August 2025. The deceased was re-interred in another grave within Deeping St James Cemetery on the same day.
- A resident whose property borders the Cemetery has contacted the office requesting that the pile of chippings and soil behind their fence, which appears to be growing, is reduced/removed. They have also commented that as the rule is for dogs to be kept on leads in the Cemetery, the Cemetery groundsman should follow this rule.
ACTION: The committee agreed that the bark chippings should be relocated to the allotment site where the tenants could put it to use and the soil pile should be spread more evenly on the remaining area. The personnel sub-committee would consider the dog off lead issue.
ACTION: Whilst at the Cemetery the committee requested that the area near the shed was tidied. The Clerk will speak to the maintenance team
26.18 To receive a report showing position of the income and expenditure budgets for 2025/26.
INCOME HEADING AGREED BUDGET ACTUAL RECEIVED TO DATE
|
INCOME HEADING |
AGREED BUDGET |
ACTUAL RECEIVED TO DATE |
|
Burial fees |
£ 2000.00 |
£ 5900.00 |
|
Memorial fees |
£ 500.00 |
£ 300.00 |
EXPENDITURE HEADING AGREED BUDGET ACTUAL SPEND TO DATE
|
EXPENDITURE HEADING |
AGREED BUDGET |
ACTUAL SPEND TO DATE |
|
Ground maintenance |
£ 10000.00 |
£ 9337.23 |
|
Water rates |
£ 150.00 |
£ 66.36 |
|
Repairs |
£ 500.00 |
£ 78.00 |
25.19 To consider the budget requirements for 2026/27.
It was agreed that the budget for 2026/27 should remain the same as that for 2025/26
26.20 To consider a request to reduce the height of some of the trees on the boundary of the old Cemetery with the properties on Burghley Close.
The Clerk had obtained a quotation to remove 2 conifers, reduce and shape the Hawthorn Tree remove the Elders and chip and remove the waste. The committee agreed that work should be completed by the contractor however asked for it to be the removal of the 2 conifers, to shape and reduce the Hawthorn and Elder and to trim to the Yew hidden within.
ACTION: The Clerk to contact the contractor with the revised work request
Following this the committee requested that the maintenance team removed the self- set elders around the base of the Wellingtonia tree and removed the Ivy of the trunks of the Wellingtonia and Yew Trees
26.21 To receive an update about Deeping St James Parish Council’s application for an exhumation licence.
The Clerk advised that an exhumation licence was granted on 4 August 2025 and the deceased relatives have contacted the Parish Council office.
26.22 To receive a letter from one of the deceased person’s relatives relating to the exhumation licence that has been granted to Deeping St James Parish Council
A letter has been received from the Widow of the late Mr John Broughton with a request that the following paragraph should be shared and included in the minutes
“I, Mrs Broughton, wish to express my sincere disappointment at how the Parish Council has handled the request to exhumate my beloved husband, Mr Broughton, and its failure to provide any updates on the situation to our bereaved family after 25 July 2024, resulting in severe upset when the licence for exhumation was approved by the Ministry of Justice on 5 August 2025.”
ACTION: The Committee agreed that a response should be issued to the letter which the Clerk would draft for approval by the committee.
26.23 To note the date of the next meeting – 7pm on Tuesday 06 January 2026.