Cemetery crisis looms in Ferndown (From Bournemouth Echo)

Cemetery crisis looms in Ferndown

5:00pm Thursday 3rd January 2013 in News By Alex Winter

NO MORE ROOM: Shaun Flynn, a funeral director from Ferndown in nearby Hampreston & Stapehill All Saints Church, where space for new graves is running out

THE CEMETERY where many former Ferndown residents are buried will reach capacity “within two years”, councillors say.

With no cemetery in the town, many who live in Ferndown are buried in the churchyard at Hampreston, more than two miles away.

But space is becoming limited, and a new working party reporting to the town council’s environment committee is set to be formed in the New Year that will try to find a solution.

Shaun Flynn, joint managing director of Wayflynn Funeral Services in Ferndown, is the chair of the working party.

“The facility for Ferndown is provided by the Church of England through Hampreston Church,” he said.

“Ferndown itself does not have a cemetery of its own, which is a shame, when you consider that smaller towns like West Moors have their own cemetery. Unfortunately, residents here do not have the same facility available to them.”

Mr Flynn, who is also the chair of the town’s Chamber of Commerce, said he hopes at least the town could have a garden of rest for families to spread their loved one’s ashes.

He said: “The space available at the church is rapidly filling up.

“There isn’t a lot of space left there at all.

“It is a very pleasant place, but it’s also two-and-a-half miles away from Ferndown, and for a lot of residents who have lost their loved ones, it’s a long way to go.

“It’s not an easy place to get to, and many people don’t drive. We do need to find some sort of solution.”

The town council has now ring-fenced some of next year’s budget for the working party to use.

In November next year, the group will report back on their findings.

Mr Flynn said: “Certainly in the next couple of years, there will be no room at Hampreston, and then the nearest places available are municipal cemeteries in Bournemouth.”