Thursday 30 January 2014

Writing to Coventry City Council about Lentons Lane Cemetary

 Today I have written to Coventry City Council calling for urgent action to be taken at Lentons Lane Cemetary in Coventry. Constituents say that this is a situation that has been going on for multiple years...


We Demand a Referendum Now MEP Nikki Sinclaire has today written to Coventry City Council calling for clarification on the drainage at Lentons Lane cemetery.

Constituents have contacted Nikki, distraught at learning that the site has problems with flooding. They say they have purchased plots at this site without any warning of the drainage problems. 

Comments on the online petition suggest that the problem could have been occurring for as long as 16 years, and Nikki is calling for urgent action.
Nikki Sinclaire’s letter is below:

“I am writing to you following a letter from a constituent who lives in Coventry, in regards to the Lentons Lane Cemetery.

 This constituent is incredibly distressed at the ongoing situation with this cemetery. I have been in dialogue with other residents who have signed a petition calling for the flooding problem to be addressed at this cemetery. Many of them tell me that this issue has been a problem for multiple years, and not just the two years that was reported in the Coventry Telegraph.

 For example, take the following comment from the online petition about this problem:

 my Nan passed away 16 years ago & she was under water then & now mum is there passed away 3 years ago & now she is under water I think it’s unfair for family's to see this I always think my mum is in her coffin full of water”.

 To have a situation seemingly ongoing for 16 years is shameful.

 What I find more troubling is the fact that cemetery plots are still being sold to people, many of them dying of terminal illnesses, and they are not informed of the flooding problems at the site before they choose to purchase a plot. Now this problem has been exposed on a larger scale, they are incredibly distressed at what they have arranged for when they have passed – they tell me they would not have chosen this cemetery if they had been told about the flooding problems.

 I have read that the Council are now looking into this issue. However, I would urge that this work is accelerated and a long term solution to a very distressing problem is found, especially considering the amount of time that families have been distressed by this problem. With poor weather predicted for the next few weeks at least, a solution needs to be found.

 Could I also ask why potential buyers of plots are not being informed of the situation at the site? "