Cemetery fees to rise in Market Drayton for the next financial year

Civic leaders agreed a three per cent rise in fees for services at Market Drayton Cemetery including burials, plots, the use of the chapel and memorials. 

The cemetery is owned and operated by Market Drayton Town Council and is currently undergoing several improvement works.

Work to repair and replace the chapel's windows is on-going and councillors have also voted to fund repairs to the site's surrounding wall.

At a meeting of the services and facilities committee on Thursday, it was decided that fees will rise by three per cent. Shropshire Council recently agreed to increase the cost for its bereavement services by 47.5 per cent for the next financial year.

Exclusive rights of burial charges for Market Drayton Cemetery will change for the next financial year. 

It will cost a £701 to purchase a grave space for a person who was over the age of 16 when they died - as opposed to £681 during the current financial year.

Meanwhile, a grave space for someone who was under-16 at the time of death will cost £318, and a grave space for a still born child will be £127.

There will still be no charge for the interment of a stillborn child or child under the age of 16.

The interment of a single grave will cost £509 while a double grave will cost £640. The second interment into a double grave will cost £510. 

It will cost £342 to purchase a 'garden of rest' plot for cremated remains while it will cost £273 for the interment of cremated remains with a single depth, and £342 for those of a double depth.

Use of the cemetery's chapel will cost £128 while the cost of searching for records will be £38 per hour. 

Meanwhile, it will cost £217 for a memorial design/inscription, £45 for an additional inscription, £114 for a cremation tablet and £114 for an inscribed vase.

There will still be no charge for a small headstone for a still born child or for the replacement of a headstone that was covered by the owners' insurance due to vandalism or accidental damage. 

Chair of the services and facilities committee at Market Drayton Town Council, Tim Manton said: "We voted to have a three per cent rise on prices. It is unfortunate that we have to put our prices up for that but we have a rate of inflation and prices are going up for everything. 

"It increases the purchase of a grave space by £20. It is a difficult one because £20 is a lot of money to a lot of people, but costs have gone up.

"I wouldn't have wanted to see it go up any more than that, but I think it is a reasonable cost.

"It goes without saying that councillors in Market Drayton are very aware of the costs of things and it is furthest from our wishes to put costs up for stuff. We want to keep costs as low as possible for the residents of Market Drayton and go out of our way to ensure that this happens."