Group formed to look at Newport burial fees

A group of councillors will take an in-depth look at the cemetery rules, including the fees structure, before the budget is set later in the year.

It comes after a complaint from a woman who had to pay double to bury her mother-in-law as she died outside the town's boundaries.

Council rules say that the families of people who have lived outside of Newport for more than 12 months must pay twice as much for most cemetery services as those who die in the town.

Marie Whitefoot, of Alton Grove, was furious that the council refused to offer the discounted rate to her mother-in-law Dorothy Whitefoot, who died aged 88.

She had lived in Fisher's Lock in Newport for more than 20 years but was not classed as a Newport resident by the council as she spent the last three years of her life at The Rubens care home in Chetwynd Aston - just a few hundred metres beyond Newport's parish boundary.

Town clerk Lee Jakeman said: "A working group of the leisure and environmental services committee should be formed to review the entire cemetery rules, including the paragraph regarding additional fees, before the budget setting process begins.

"This will allow for a thorough appreciation of all the rules by members and an opportunity to understand them in an overall context and allow for any financial implications to be appreciated, including a recommendation of fees."