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Introduction
The Council has been requested to consider allowing pre-purchase of
exclusive right of burial to enable residents to know they will be
buried in a particular grave space (or a particular graveyard if it
is not possible to allocate a specific space at the point of pre
purchase. This note sets out the proposed course of action for the
Council in response to this request.
Summary
It is recommended that the Council does permit pre-purchase of
grave spaces albeit with the restrictions noted in the
recommendations to ensure continuity of supply to respond to
on-going demand from Crawley residents.
Recommendations
It is recommended that the Head of Major Projects and Commercial
Services, in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for
Environmental Services approve the following amendment to the
Council’s Burial Ground Regulations:
1. To permit pre-purchase of grave spaces at Snell Hatch Cemetery
and Little Trees Cemetery, with the following conditions
applied:
(a) Pre-purchase of grave spaces be limited to residents only but
with discretion considered for those that have a strong affiliation
with Crawley (eg, where the deceased lived a large proportion of
their life in Crawley but were living elsewhere immediately prior
to their death).
(b) Pre-purchase of grave spaces will be permissible providing
there remains at least a three year supply of available grave
spaces (based upon the take up of spaces over the previous three
years).
(c) Pre-purchase will normally be on the basis of purchasing the
exclusive right of burial for the next available sequential space
at the time of purchase. However, should the layout of grave spaces
restrict access to facilitate the subsequent digging of the grave,
pre-purchase will be offered on the basis of the next available
space when the individual dies and will therefore be the right to
be buried in the named cemetery rather than in a specific
plot.
(d) Pre-purchase of the exclusive right of burial to be for a 50
year term from the date of purchase with the option available to
purchase a further 50 years at the end of the initial term.
(e) Pre-purchase will be limited to individuals for personal use
with the ability to make provision for transfer to an immediate
family member upon their death.
2. Within the context of the above conditions, the specific wording
of the amendment to the burial ground regulations to be delegated
to the Head of Major Projects and Commercial Services.
Reasons for the Recommendations
It is recommended that pre-purchase of grave spaces is permitted.
Although the number of requests for pre-purchase has been
relatively small (estimated less than 5 in the last 5 years),
pre-purchase of plots can provide reassurance and comfort to some
families, particularly where a member(s) of the family are already
buried at a particular cemetery.
The reason for each of the respective conditions is noted
below:
(a) Pre-purchase of grave spaces be limited to residents only but
with discretion considered for those that have a strong affiliation
with Crawley (eg, where the deceased lived a large proportion of
their life in Crawley but were living elsewhere immediately prior
to their death).
Reason: To maximise the opportunity for Crawley residents to
benefit from the ability to pre-purchase grave spaces.
(b) Pre-purchase of grave spaces will be permissible providing
there remains at least a three year supply of available grave
spaces (based upon the take up of spaces over the previous three
years).
Reason: It is estimated that the lead in period to provide
additional grave spaces would be up to three years. To ensure there
is sufficient time to provide additional capacity as and when
required, the Council would want to ensure pre-purchase demand does
not reduce available capacity to less than the three year lead
in.
(c) Pre-purchase will normally be on the basis of purchasing the
exclusive right of burial for the next available sequential space
at the time of purchase. However, should the layout of grave spaces
restrict access to facilitate the subsequent digging of the grave,
pre-purchase will be offered on the basis of the next available
space when the individual dies and will therefore be the right to
be buried in the named cemetery rather than exclusive right of
burial in a specific plot.
Reason: Where feasible, the Council will provide pre-purchase of
exclusive right of burial for the next available sequential grave
space. However, this will only be possible where the layout of
grave spaces enable the grave to be subsequently dug without
disturbing the adjacent graves, headstones or landings.
Unfortunately, the current layout of the Muslim graves at Little
Trees Cemetery will mean it is not possible to return to these
plots and dig the grave without disturbing the adjacent headstone
and landing. To offer pre-purchase in this circumstance, it will
therefore be necessary to provide this for the next available space
at the time of death rather than the next available space at the
time of purchase.
(d) Pre-purchase of the exclusive right of burial be for a 50 year
term from the date of purchase with the option available to
purchase a further 50 years at the end of the initial term.
Reason: Currently the term of the exclusive right of burial starts
when the grave is purchased so this is in line with the
recommendations for pre-purchase. Where the two differ is that at
present a grave is only purchased when someone has died and
therefore is occupied immediately and the term of the exclusive
right of burial starts and lasts for 50 years.
With pre-purchase it is feasible that a grave might remain
unoccupied for the full term of the exclusive right of burial. Even
if it is not used for 10 or 20 years it extends the exclusive right
considerably if it were not to start until the purchaser was
buried. It is therefore recommended to keep the ownership in line
with the existing periods for exclusive right of burial by starting
the period at date of purchase. The existing regulations relating
to exclusive right of burial are attached at Appendix 1 to this
briefing note.
(e) Pre-purchase will be limited to individuals for personal use
with the ability to make provision for transfer to an immediate
family member upon their death.
Reason: To maximise the opportunity for individual Crawley
households. This would limit the ability for burial societies or
groups to pre-purchase a large number of plots and thereby ensure
the opportunity is retained for individual families.
Decision type: Non-key
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Notice of proposed decision first published: 11/11/2020
Decision due: 4 Nov 2020 by Head of Major Projects and Commercial Services
Contact: Nigel Sheehan, Head of Projects and Commercial Services 01293 438728. Email: nigel.sheehan@crawley.gov.uk Email: nigel.sheehan@crawley.gov.uk.