Campaigners outraged with plans to excavate and re-use thousands of old Southwark graves

They also fear the council will destroy the area’s green space
Marta Portocarrero11 April 2016

Campaigners are furious at Southwark Council’s plans to dig up graves and destroy woodland due to a shortage of burial plots.

Southwark Council says that it could run out of burial space by 2017 and is planning to create up to 4,845 new plots in Camberwell Old and New Cemeteries.

But the Save Southwark Woods campaigners fear the council’s strategy could also see old graves dug up for re-use and the destruction of the area’s green space, which has mostly been used as a park by the local community.

A petition to turn the cemeteries’ green space into a natural reserve has been signed by more than 11,000 supporters.

Campaigners are fighting to save Camberwell cemeteries' green space

Blanche Cameron, from Save Southwark Woods, said: “There are hundreds of people with relatives in these cemeteries who are furious, and they will not give up the graves of their ancestors for Southwark Council to dig them up or mound them over to make profit.”

A spokesperson from Southwark Council said that there are “some mistruths being spread” about the council’s plans for the cemeteries and added that it is has “not committed to re-using graves”.

The Law allows the excavation of graves older than 75 years but, according to the council, this would “require public consultation, cabinet approval, and legal guidance.”

The council also discarded the possibility of using another cemetery for new burials – a solution that has been proposed by campaigners.

“There are only three working cemeteries in Southwark, with most taking place in Camberwell New Cemetery, and a consistent demand for places”, the spokesperson said.

“Not only would it be expensive [to use a cemetery outside the borough], it would also be unfair to expect residents to travel outside the borough to visit the graves of their loved ones.”

The campaigners also fear the council will destroy 12 acres of woodland and biodiversity they see as crucial for the community’s well-being.

“There is a well-being factor to people being in green spaces, for children growing up with a green space at their door step, where they can walk and feel lost in the wilderness”, said Abby Taubin from the campaign.

“We are saying that we need respect for the dead, but we need the trees for the living.”

Southwark Council stressed that the plan is to fell a maximum of 45 trees and it is waiting on permission from the Diocese of Southwark, who manages the consecrated areas, to proceed. So far, it has felled ten trees “with some diseased, dying or poor quality”, it said.

“Everybody is watching this. This isn’t just about Southwark or two small cemeteries in Southwark, this is about the whole country”, said Blanche Cameron.

After a year of an on-going battle between campaigners and Southwark Council, a full decision on the plans for Camberwell Old and New cemeteries should be taken later this year, but the council didn’t specify when exactly this would happen.

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