Action call over state of overgrown cemetery

County councillor Joy Jones has expressed her disappointment at the state of Newtown Cemetery, after people were calling her in floods of tears after visiting their child's grave.

Grass has been overgrown around the cemetery, and rubbish has been left in certain areas and councillor Jones is unhappy about the situation.

She said: "On Saturday evening I was contacted by a member of the public who had been left extremely devastated by their visit to the cemetery.

"The person was in floods of tears as they told me of their sadness and distress that they had encountered that afternoon when visiting the graves of their child, and their partner and one of their parents who had all laid to rest there

"The person had been so distraught at the state they had found it in.

"They had found the only thing they had with them which was a pair of scissors and attended to cut and tidy the graves, but to no avail as the grass and weeds where too long.

Lack of respect

"It wasn’t only their graves that were affected but the whole cemetery was in a terrible mess, with long grass but the worse were all the weeds and especially the huge thistles.

"I have been raising the poor upkeep of the cemetery for some time with officers of Powys County Council as I have had other members of the public in touch, regarding what they have said is a total lack of respect to families of the area and the commonwealth war graves, people who have given their lives for this country."

Commenting on the state of the cemetery, cabinet member for grounds Phyl Davies apologised to those left upset and said: "I have visited Newtown Cemetery today and I’m concerned about the current grass cutting regime in some parts of the cemetery.

“I will raise these concerns with officers and look at how we can improve grass cutting in Newtown Cemetery. I would like to apologise to those who have been upset at the look of the cemetery when they have visited it recently.”

Councillor Jones has also appealed to the public, to show respect and keep the place tidy.

She added: "My plea is please have respect for Newtown Cemetery as people spend time with those they have lost. Family members find comfort visiting their loved ones and the last thing they need is to be confronted by such chaos and mess, it should be a haven of peace and tranquillity."