Mum's heartbreak as Leeds Council cut down memorial trees near daughter's grave at Lawnswood Cemetery woodland

Bernadette Shackleton said Leeds City Council had been an “absolute disgrace” since her daughter, Marianne, was buried at the green burial site at Lawnswood Cemetery in Adel in 2015, following her death from Leukemia.

The site is a woodland area near the cemetery, where families can choose to bury their loved ones.

She said that soon after her daughter’s funeral, the mementos, tributes and flowers that had been left were found thrown in a bin. And Ms Shackleton said she was left distraught after discovering – through a notice left by the burial site on Christmas Day last year – that maintenance work would be carried out and some of the trees would be cut down.

She said that now “70 per cent” of the trees have been cut down at the site, adding: “They didn’t even have the decency to contact us directly or give an explanation. There's probably families out there who have no idea that this has happened. It’s disgusting.”

Leeds City Council has responded and said that in the original agreement with those who have had loved ones buried at the site, it stated that certain trees may have to be removed as part of the woodland management plan.

It said woodland burial sites were “subject to specific rules and regulations”. In this particular case, the council said numerous trees had been removed due to fungus. It added that it was “not practical” to contact the grave owners directly, which is why notices have been left.

Ms Shackleton said that the green burial site was recommended to her by a funeral director, following her daughter’s death, and that she had paid the council for a plot at Lawnswood Cemetery by a tree.

She added: “The cemeteries are full and I thought a tree would be suitable.”

She said that after the funeral her friends informed her that they had been to the site and found that the flowers and mementos left for Marianne had been thrown away.

Ms Shackleton said: “I was told that it was cemetery policy and then they put a plaque up letting people know that they couldn’t put anything by the graves.”

She said that she visited Marianne’s grave frequently over the years and has run into other issues with the council about the site.

In December last year she said she discovered a notice stuck to a tree near her daughter’s grave, which said that some of the trees on the site would be cut down. She said: “I started panicking thinking ‘what’s going on?’ It was a Saturday so there was nobody there.”

She said the next time she visited the site she spoked to a groundsman, who said he didn’t know.

She added: “I asked the council about it and the first thing they said was ‘with all the cutbacks...’. I said: ‘I don’t care, this is my daughter’s grave’.

"They said if I’d read the small print I would’ve seen this might potentially happen.”

She has since found that a number of the trees on the site have been cut down, though the one where Marianne is buried near to has been left standing. She said: “They’re not cutting down Marianne’s tree now but unfortunately a lot of the trees have gone and I don’t even know if people are aware.

“There are 100 trees and they haven’t had the decency to contact bereaved families. They are just doing it anyway and hoping nobody complains and if they do they turn around and say ‘well we put the notice there’.

“The groundsman said they were just waiting for people to turn up and find out at Christmas. I’ve never heard of something so disgusting in my whole life.”

Asked whether the council made it clear to her that trees could be removed in the near future when she first made arrangements for the site, she said: “Not at all.

“I don’t expect much from them anyway but this is just absolutely disgraceful. It’s like turning up and finding the gravestone’s been chucked in the bin and being told you can’t do anything about it. They just don’t care. They haven’t shown any empathy whatsoever.

"I don’t want any of those people touching Marianne’s tree.”

Council response

A Leeds City Council spokesperson said: "We understand that any woodland work within a Council managed cemetery can be an emotive and sensitive issue for relatives and visitors of the bereaved.

“The location in question is allocated as a green burial area, which is subject to some very specific rules and regulations. It is designed to be a natural woodland area, free from memorialisation.

"Within the original agreement it is set out that a woodland management plan will be developed for the woodland area, as the trees mature then thinning out will take place resulting in certain trees being removed as required to allow the Woodland to flourish. The woodland will be underplanted with bulbs and wildflowers to create a naturalised area, grass cutting will be kept to a minimum and no horticultural chemicals will be used on this area.

"Sadly, it is not practicable for the Council to contact the grave owners as many do not send a forwarding contact address or may have passed away themselves. The Council is also mindful that it is not always the grave owner who will then maintain or look after a grave. It is for these reasons, that the Council places clear signage to inform visitors of any impending maintenance work and will also set out the reasons why this work needs to be carried out.

"On this occasion work was undertaken in Autumn 2022 by a member of our forestry team as some of the trees had fungus.”