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TREE PLANTING – Saturday March 10th from 10am to 12 midday

Watton & District Rotary Club And Bullock Park Management Committee Invites Young & Old to Plant a Tree We Have Talk on Trees by a Local Tree Expert Children’s Drawing Competitions – Prizes for all Entries There will also be a chance to plant some trees (if the weather is kind) Children’s Poetry Competition – […]

Cemetery Extension Project

October 16th, 2013

As you may or may not be aware, Shipdham cemetery is running short of space. Various options were looked at by the parish council, but all involved building a new cemetery elsewhere in the village, however, by doing this it would have separated families between the two cemeteries. Two years ago an opportunity arose for the parish to obtain a piece of ground at the rear of the cemetery in order to extend it. The parish entered into a S106 agreement with Leonard Farms who gave the piece of land behind the existing cemetery as part of their planning permission in Parklands Avenue.

After this agreement was formally signed, Shipdham parish obtained planning permission to extend the cemetery over this piece of land and as of last month all agreements were signed to enable the project to start. The project has now started with levelling and improving drainage of the ground. Several hundred tonnes of soil will be needed to obtain the correct levels in order for water to run the correct way. This is being carried out at the moment but unfortunately we have missed the weather windows and autumn is now upon us with heavy rain, this has upset plans slightly meaning we cannot gain access to the land from the planned entrance, so lorry loads of soil are having to go in off Larwood Way. Thank you to the residents in this area for their patience with this short term work. We are hoping to get the area levelled and grass seeded this year, however with weather against us this may not now happen until spring.

The area at the rear of the cemetery extension will be fenced with a new native hedge planted around the perimeter. This stage will be an ongoing part of the project and will have to be completed next year now.

Once this project is finished it will give more cemetery spaces for many decades to come in one place, which will keep families together within one cemetery.