A Southerness mother and daughter have accused the council of failing to maintain the cemetery where their loved ones
lie.
Olga McCreadie and Tina Roscoe regularly pay their respects at the graves of family members interred at Kirkbean kirkyard.
But according to Tina the cemetery is like a “jungle” with some gravestones almost buried by vegetation.
And they have taken to maintaining family plots with garden shears.
She told the News: “It is absolutely horrendous. My mum was in tears yesterday.
“She and I go once or twice a week and when we went yesterday it still had not been cut.
“She was exhausted by the time we had cut all round the plot. She was just doing it with shears.
“Mr grandparents Kenneth and Violet McCreadie are buried there. I cared for them before they died.”
Tina, who works in New Abbey as a carer and at Lighthouse Leisure at Southerness, has five loved ones laid to rest at Kirkbean.
She said: “My papa’s mum Kathleen McCreadie and my auntie Michelle McCreadie, my mum’s sister, are there.
“Michelle was only 23 when she passed – she had cancer.
“I was only a toddler and can only just remember the funeral, which was huge.
“My father-in-law is up there too – he only
died a couple of years ago in a tragic cycling accident.
“We always take a rake, shears, cleaning stuff and a bucket of water with us.
“But we did not have time to do any of his because we were too tired after doing the others.
Tina, 42, added: “We always tell our loved ones all our troubles when we’re up there.
“We even put a bit of music on sometimes. We are very family orientated and like to keep the graves clean.
“But the grass has grown so tall at the top of the cemetery you can hardly see some of the graves.
“There was a strip cut down the middle of the graveyard. But that’s only because there was a funeral taking place.
“The rest was like a jungle – I could not believe my poor grandparents were up there.
“We even tried to clean other folks’ graves as well.”
Tina urged the council to bring the graveyard back into a respectable state.
She said: “I’m not having my mum upset like that. You pay for your plot in the expectation that it will be half-decently looked after. But we are having to do it all ourselves. It is as if our loved ones are forgotten about.
“Can’t the council even go and check? I don’t know how they can let it get into this state.”
A council spokesperson said: “Kirkbean Cemetery is open and has active burial grounds, therefore it should be getting cut every two weeks.
“It was cut approximately six weeks ago and the team are due back this week. Unfortunately the council’s teams have been behind schedule this year with ground maintenance due to resourcing issues.
“However, they are proactively now trying to get back on schedule.”
The spokesperson added that council-owned closed cemeteries are cut three times per year.
