A senior council official has apologised for the state of Kernan Cemetery in Portadown and admitted it has fallen below “acceptable” standards.
Claire Duddy, head of climate, parks and sustainability, held her hands up to the issue when an understandably angry Councillor Julie Flaherty said she had even had complaints about the conditions at Kernan as she tended to her own son’s grave.
The Ulster Unionist representative was quick to home in on targets set out in business plans where, it was stated, that “if there are inadequate processes and resources in place there may be an impact on good service delivery”.
That, for Councillor Flaherty, was simply not good enough, and was all the more hurtful, coming in a week where her own family faced difficult dates and the anniversary of their heartbreaking loss.
“I have been overwhelmed,” she said, “and I’m sure I’m not the only one, by phone, on email, at my very doorstep, and even while down tending to my own son’s grave. That’s a wee step too far for me, particularly at this time of the year, as it is, I know, for many in our borough.
“I have eyes in my head, as we all do. We can see the problems down at Kernan. I was up and down, probably a bit more regular, if I may say than usual, because we are facing dates at the minute which makes it slightly worse.”
Acknowledging and thanking the staff for the work which they do to the best of their ability and resources available to them, Councillor Flaherty said cemeteries deserved to be treated differently to parks and open spaces.
“I want to know, can council or somebody outline to me how it is prioritising the upkeep of our cemeteries, to ensure they remain places of dignity and respect, and confirm what support is in place for our staff in this frontline service?” she added.
“These are special places for so many of us, and of all the things we do in council, it is not a luxury to have this place maintained. Luxuries are fabulous when we have the time, the staff and the resources. But if we don’t have that, we must – absolutely must – prioritise these core services of our council.
“And given the pressures, we know, we can see, that are on cemetery maintenance, how are we safeguarding standards across these areas?
“I want to know what’s immediately being done to support the essential services and our stretched staff. Furthermore, does the council accept, someone accept, because we can all see it, that cemeteries require a very distinct tailored approach, not one aligned with parks and open spaces?
“I’m not the only one who owns graves in our cemeteries, because we live here and we love this place, and we want it to be the best, but this is an immediate sort-it-out-now issue.
“This is not a criticism of any staff. There are just not enough of them and they cannot run on empty.”
Departmental head Claire Duddy outlined efforts ongoing to address issues raised.
But she began by acknowledging the concerns and complaints raised.
“I want to first of all apologise for the condition of the cemetery at the minute, because it isn’t acceptable,” said Ms Duddy. “And I acknowledge your feedback and the feedback from other colleagues here in the chamber this evening over the last number of days.
“It is a very sensitive issue and the cemetery standards have fallen below the standard that we find acceptable.
“I am working very, very closely with my colleagues to try and address this.
“In the immediate, the staff have agreed to do overtime. Now I do know that they are stretched and they are working weekends to facilitate burials and working outside of the borough to ensure that the whole service runs smoothly, but they will be doing overtime in these lovely evenings and over weekends to try and bring the standards back to where they ought to be.”
Turning to staffing, she added: “We are working closely with our HR colleagues. We have had two rounds of recruitment to try and address a gap in our service at Kernan. There have been issues with that recruitment process, which are completely outside of the control of council, and we are working to try and address that and are waiting to offer that opportunity to the successful candidate imminently.”
Ms Duddy – who said she had been in post for a year and a half – explained how she had observed in that time “how structures work and how they don’t work”.
And she confirmed: “I’m working with my colleagues in grounds maintenance to look at how we can develop a grounds maintenance service and a separate cemetery service, which best meets the needs of our ratepayers, particularly in the cemeteries, where it is noted more closely if standards do drop. So we are working to do that imminently.
“I’m actually presenting to a local joint forum next week to bring forward a couple of new roles within the cemetery service. I’m hopeful, I’ve had a good reception thus far from our trade unions. They’ve been very supportive and I’m hopeful that that will go through very shortly.
“By filling some of those gaps, I will then also be able to address some of the frontline issues and have better resources for cemeteries.”
