A GRIEVING husband has branded Warrington Borough Council uncaring after being unable to get near his wife’s ashes buried in a waterlogged memorial garden at Walton Lea Crematorium.
Trevor Stout, aged 67, from Cinnamon Brow, Warrington, has even paid £119 and obtained Home Office authority for the ashes to be dug up and moved to a more suitable location but without success – with the council unable to say when they will carry out the necessary work.
“They were happy enough to take my money off me but don’t seem to care now,” he said.
Trevor has been visiting his wife Margaret’s plot in the memorial garden almost every Wednesday since she tragically died suddenly on holiday in Greece nearly seven years ago aged just 59 from heart failure.
He brought her back home in a coffin and has been putting fresh flowers on her plot nearly every week. But for several months he hasn’t been able to get close to her because the area is frequently waterlogged.
He was told by the council that the only way to resolve this was to move her. But now he has paid his money they can not give him any timescale of when the work will be done.
Trevor added: ” I have seen several other people having the same problem. The council just don’t seem to care.”
Each year Trevor returns to the holiday island of Zante where Margaret died and says he gets more empathy from the people on the Greek island than his does from his home town council.
There is even a memorial to his wife in the local Greek church.
A council spokesman said: “We fully understand Mr Stout’s frustration and are very sorry that we are unable to proceed with the work for the time being.
“2015 was one of the top 10 wettest years since records began and December was the wettest month ever. This has meant that the grounds are saturated and the water table very high.
“We wish to reassure Mr Stout that the work will be carried as out as soon as conditions allow.”
The council added that the area sits above a clay bowl, so it takes longer than normal for water to disperse naturally
They have invested more than £8,000 in recent years attempting to improve drainage, including installing underground pipes and extra gullies, raising the ground level in parts and re-turfing the whole area. This has worked to an extent, but these are extreme circumstances.
Similar requests to Mr Stout’s have been accommodated when conditions have allowed.
1 Comment
Margaret was a well respected lady she deserves a decent resting place come on WBC pull your finger out !