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Leeds cemetery 'looks like 'Disneyland'
MEMORIALS left by grieving relatives have turned Harewood Cemetery into a 'Disneyland' it has been claimed.
Chinese lanterns, balloons, dolls and benches have appeared in the burial ground.
Parish councillor John Ellis said he thought that such memorials should be removed after six months.
He told Harewood Parish Council that a visitor from the Wirral who attended a burial at Harewood likened the cemetery to Disneyland.
Parish chairman, Ron Farrar, however was wary of introducing strict rules.
"If undertakers are made aware of our concerns, they could perhaps pass them on to relatives," he said.
But Coun Ellis said this was not enough.
"The matter has got out of hand," he went on. "We should set down on paper what is and is not acceptable".
The Parish Council agreed to discuss the issue again on a summer visit to the cemetery.
Burial Board clerk, Mike Wadsworth, said the last month had been a very busy period with over 20 interments.
"Two hundred people attended one Jewish funeral," he reported. "As a result of that we sold 14 plots for future burials."
The Parish Council expressed concern about a survey being carried out in Harewood by students of Manchester Business School.
They had been asked to do research by Harewood House Trust which proposes to replace the village hall with a bigger, multi-purpose building.
One of the questions they asked was: "Would you like to have the village hall or would you like something better?"
Parish Councillor Margaret Wilkinson said: "That is a loaded question. It is totally unacceptable. I think we should protest to the Rector of Manchester University."
Coun Ellis said one resident had told him: "I pay rent to Harewood Estate and I have to be careful what I say."
The Parish Council voted to give 200 to Slaid Hill in Bloom and 250 to the recently formed Harewood in Bloom.
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 26 May 2012
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