IT’S unacceptable for people from Barnard Castle to be buried in Startforth because of a lack of cemetery space, the annual town meeting heard.
Concerns have been raised going back 10 years about cemetery capacity. Last year Durham County Council said the cemetery, between Wilson Street and Victoria Road, would be full by 2026 but added there was “considerable capacity” at Startforth.
At the time, the Revd Canon Alec Harding accused the county council of being “tin-eared” and lacking sympathy to people’s attachment to “place” by wanting to be buried in their own town.
The issue was raised at last week’s annual town meeting when resident John Watson called on councillors to campaign for a new burial ground in Barnard Castle.
Mr Watson said: “We should not be fobbed off by the county council saying they can’t afford this.”
He added: “There needs to be reasonable pedestrian access but they are saying if we can’t come up with any land, we must settle for the Startforth site. That’s not on.”
Mr Watson said it was too far for elderley town residents to walk and up a steep hill.
A former district councillor, Mr Watson said a site for a new cemetery had been identified in Newgate, but that the allocation had “vanished” .
Mayor Cllr Rima Chatterjee agreed it was an issue that mattered to the community.
Town resident Sam Henderson, 84, told the meeting he recently met a county official at the cemetery.
“He [the official] said we were running out of space. He said, ‘you will have to be buried over in Startforth’.”
Annalisa Ward, from Teesdale Action Partnership, said her organisation was looking into the issue.
Ian Hoult, Durham County Council’s neighbourhood protection manager, said: “We are aware of concerns around burial space at Barnard Castle cemetery and we continue to consider any potential new sites which would support an increased capacity.”
