THE States is hiking charges at the Foulon Cemetery to discourage burials there.
The price of a plot and interment is set to rise by 668% in the next two years, leaving funeral directors outraged.
The minimum cost, at present £482, goes up to £1,450 from Thursday and will rise to £3,700 in two years’ time. The increases will push the cost of a funeral that involves burial at the Foulon past the £5,000 mark within two years.
Treasury and Resources said the cemetery had traditionally been operated at a loss and, with space running out, it wanted to reduce burials there.
Martels Funeral Services proprietor John Foster said the move was ridiculous. ‘The States talks about cutting costs, but here they are pushing them onto families,’ he said.
Funeral directors met Treasury board members and cemetery management to discuss the increases. They said they had been told another meeting would be held but that that was cancelled at the last minute when Treasury said it could not get the relevant people together.
The next the undertakers knew was when they were told of the rises.
Noyon’s joint proprietor Juliet Carre said she had been sceptical from the start.
‘We knew from the first meeting that they’d already made their minds up over the money side and that they were just paying lip service,’ she said.
‘They want the Foulon to pay its own way, but no cemetery does that.’
She said the rises would impact most on St Peter Port residents and, in the current economic climate, would be a terrific burden.
The move also has implications for funeral directors that have to pay up front for services at the Foulon.
‘If, say, we have five funerals there in a month, it will be a huge outlay and we may have to wait three months to get our money back, if we are lucky,’ said Mrs Carre.
She said the Winchester Diocese was increasing the cost of funeral services from £90 to £99 for next year, while the States was increasing the cost of using the Foulon Chapel from £61 to £90, which she said was strangely out of step.
Argent co-director Gary Vaudin said cremation charges at the Foulon had been lower than elsewhere for a long time so a rise was overdue.
But he said the burial fees were exorbitant.
‘If they are looking to raise the fees to carry out improvements to the cemetery, then it’s a non-starter as people will avoid burial or look to be buried somewhere else,’ he said.
‘I think the situation could impact on the few parishes that allow out-of-parish burials.’
He said the issue of prepaid funerals would also need to be revisited.
Treasury: why we are doing it – Page 2
Comment Page 24
Article posted on 29th December, 2008 - 2.30pm
23 Article Comments
By increasing the cost astronomically to reduce the number of people burying their loved ones in cemetaries, won’t that just encourage people to fly-tip their relatives or bury them in random fields.
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On the one hand we have a looming pensions crises and on the other making the cost of dying unaffordable to the average person.
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About time burials were banned.
Either cremation; under a tree etc; or medical
science should be the options.
Who tends to 95% + of the tombs at Candie Cem?
The island cannot sustain burial plot land
wastage any more.
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It seems the States are not content with increasing the cost of living, they want to increase the cost of dying too!
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It seems mean but I do believe cremation is the obvious option unless foul play is suspected.
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Woodland burials could be made legal here and would also improve our rather sparse tree cover giving us more oxygen, wind breaks, bird life and maybe eventually we would have enough woodland to support red squirrels like Jersey. Much more visually attractive too.
Cremation is a waste of resources and contributes to climate change.
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Communist funerals? You will be cremated. You will be buried under a tree. I hope you lot who suggest that burials be banned end up in Mont Cuet.
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You do realise that red squirrels are not now nor have they ever been native to Guernsey. Do you really want to introduce a non native species into the eco-system? Might want to look into why the red squirrel started declining in the first place before doing that.
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Well I’ve decided…I am not going to die! I have enjoyed being a maverick most of my life and do not intend to let the bureaucrats dictate to me after I have gone and cannot defend myself.
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Putting the cost up to such extortionate amount is discusting. A lot of people already have difficult finding money to bury loved one’s. Will the Death Grant also go to compensate those that can’t afford it? or maybe some scam can be setup to force people to buy funeral plans that allows it to be cashed in before death without the insured’s authority, only to find there’s no money when death occurs as happened to my father in the UK with a well know company.
What about people who don’t believe in cremation for religious reasons. Is that not against Human Rights?
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Hmmmm….interesting solution Vic – presumably you will be auditioning for the starring role in the next Highlander movie?!
Alternatively, why not become a Christian? You get peace with God, eternal life along with the fringe benefit of a new body when Jesus returns….and best of all, it’s completely free and there’s plenty of room!
What a bargain…I don’t know any government that can beat that one.
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When we get the incinerator, can’t we just put auntie out on Monday night?
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Vic Gamble
That’s a very selfish attitude. You need think of the burden you will be on the dwindling pension fund. You may need to revise that position; in fact it might be a resolution for the New year.
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Not believing in cremation, for religious reasons, is allowed. It is not a rational approach to death, but it is allowed…and of course if you wish to perpetrate such oddball views, then you should pay for them.
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What are peoples views on burial at sea as an alternative?
As an island, the sea is close by and burial at sea is considered an honourable burial for Navy personnel.
Personally I don’t have an issue with cremation and I don’t think the island should take up any more land space for cemeteries. For those who would prefer burial however, this could be a viable alternative. It’s definitely worth investigating, I think.
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To bury everybody living now in Guernsey in a standard size plot would require almost 2 million sqaure feet of cemetery. Does anybody have a plot of land that big they don’t need ? And in less than 100 years we’d need another plot the same size again please …..
Sticking dead bodies in the ground is unfortunately no longer a viable option for everybody on the planet. It is an unfortunate fact that we are all going to have to live ( and die ) with.
Space comes at a premium, as much in death as in life. If you want a bigger space to live in when alive you have to pay more. From now on if you want a bigger space to be dead in then you are going to have to pay a lot more as well.
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Jackie – I think you’re right….perhaps the States will need to rethink the pension strategy in light of Vic’s proposed “Highlander” solution of perpetual life? Either that or heads will roll!
Seriously now, in response to Vic’s comment on the religious aspect, Judaism and Islam both forbid cremation, the Bible however does not. Although many Biblical characters were buried and Christian “tradition” swings towards burial, at no point does the Bible give direct instructions on how to dispose of dead bodies.
As a Christian I am therefore comfortable with cremation as what the Bible does teach is that what happens to us after we die is dependent on faith in Christ during life, not how my body is disposed of after death – something that ultimately I have no control over anyway.
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Agree with the above, have to be practical about how we live and just as important, what we do when dead.
The environment, land etc. is very much a premium, start thinking about the future and not about own needs, but what is best for all.
Burial is not practical going forward at all.
Cremation takes up less space and quite frankly if we got clever about it there must be a spin off energy available.
Stop thinking about personal needs/wants/beliefs but what is best for all and the environment.
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r u takin t mick? that is a mockery, to pay that much for a funeral, when my dad does die because of his religeon h has to hve a full catholic funral but no way am i paying out 5000 when i gt my own family to pay for
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After checking out information on the Web, it would seem that a catholic can be cremated, just need to ensure that a full mass service is held and the remains are placed in a container/urn and entombed so that they remain entire.
Cremation is going to be the way the world will go given what is it, like 6 billion people now!
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Guern abroad. Interesting scenario you have presented there. I assume the ashes will re-generate on Judgement Day and the original status of form, halo attached, will present itself….my only worry would be that the coffin wood mixed with the ashes would also regenerate and you would live for eternity with splinters….,
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How about we only bury Guerns? Anyone who is non local either has to go back home or pay the full whack…
Why should the Guernsey man suffer because Johnny Foreigner comes in & steals his grave!! The States let anyone in anyway to take houses & jobs so maybe just keep 1 divine right for a local…
I am fed up of the states shafting the Guernsey man… putting up the price of dying so they can buy boats & buses – If I wanted my life dictated to by a Mickey Mouse outfit – then I would go & live in Disney World….
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I don’t think it is really about the money, it is the bottom line of there is not enough actual space for everyone to be burried, so putting the price up will help encourage more environmentally space aware cremations.
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