Councillors highlight ‘terrible state’ of Southport Crematorium

Conservative councillors are highlighting the condition of Southport Crematorium which they say is “simply not good enough” and in a “terrible state”

Councillors Terry Jones, Sinclair d’Albuquerque and Mike Morris say residents contacted them on Father’s Day to express their dismay at the poor state of the facility.

The trio visited the crematorium to assess the condition on Monday morning and found it to be in a terrible state, with paths and beds overgrown with weeds, grass uncut and signage broken.

Councillor Jones said, “this is quite clearly something that has been left for many months and even years.  Why were these issues not addressed earlier which could have avoided the upset caused to many grieving people?”

“Days like Father’s Day are particularly important for many to remember their loved ones, so to have the remembrance areas of the crematorium overgrown with weeds is simply not good enough”.

“After visiting West Lancashire crematorium in Burscough shortly after our visit, we found it to be well maintained and clearly cared for, it’s about time Sefton Council followed their example”.

“We understand there are budget restraints, but neighbouring councils seem to be able to maintain important services, especially when it is so close to people’s hearts”.

“Families are paying thousands in cremation fees to say goodbye to their loved ones and then have continued costs for plaques in the memorial gardens.  Surely Sefton Council should be doing a better job than this!”.

A Green Sefton Spokesperson said: “We are aware that the maintenance at Southport Crematorium has fallen below our normally high standards for a site which is so important to our residents as a place of quiet reflection.

“This week we have had a team on location catching up on the general maintenance works and they have already made considerable improvements to the condition of the site, with further works planned in for next week. Longer-term we will also be looking at ways for volunteers to play an active role in maintaining the Crematorium grounds, like they do with other Green Sefton managed community spaces.

“Coupled with the good weather we are currently experiencing, there has been a rapid increase in natural grass growth and staff are also having to prioritise cutting at sports pitches due to the extension of the football season. This has unfortunately resulted in some of the sites we maintain becoming overgrown and we are doing all we can to get back on schedule.

“The past 18 months has proven to be an incredibly challenging time for our Green Sefton service. Many officers have been redeployed throughout the pandemic to support the most vulnerable from delivering food shopping to staffing pop-up testing sites. We’ve also had to respond to the increased public use of the sites we manage from clearing litter at the coast to promoting responsible dog ownership within our parks, all while protecting our own staff, for instance when they have needed to self-isolate.

“Lost time on grounds maintenance, particularly during the growing season, takes a while to recover from and we ask the public to be patient as we try to reach those affected areas where we haven’t been able to keep on top of maintenance during this unprecedented time of increased demand.”