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Burial rules and regulations


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Burial rules and regulations

Last updated | 12/10/2009

The Council operates a centralised burial administrative service based at the Perth Crematorium and all bookings for interments, enquiries regarding new and existing lairs, information and lair searches should be directed there. They can be reached on 01738 446865.

Glossary

  • Interment - Burial
  • Lair - Grave
  • Half lair - Smaller grave only suitable for burial of cremated remains
  • Casket - Container of cremated remains
  • Memorial - Headstone
  • Funeral Plan - Plan taken out in advance with a Funeral Director which describes
  • the detailed arrangements for a person’s funeral
  • Floral Tributes- Wreaths, flowers and other objects placed on a lair

Burials 

  1. The Council will sell a lair to an individual when it is required, or in advance, if there is a Funeral Plan already in place. A lair certificate is then issued, which should be retained by that person and then transferred to another agreed family member when that person dies.
  2. A lair or the space within cannot be sold by the lair owner to another unrelated person. However a vacant unused lair can be sold back to the Council for a fixed sum.
  3. The ownership of a lair can be transferred to another individual providing either the lair owner if alive or the rest of their immediate family agrees. A specific form is available for this process.
  4. Full lairs can be used for up to three coffin interments depending on the specific cemetery and the depth of the first interment as well as up to 6 caskets of cremated remains or numerous scatterings of cremated remains under the turf.
  5. Floral tributes will be removed from a lair approximately a fortnight after an interment to protect the grass and remove the potential for wind blown litter. If there are specific items the family wish to retain, then they must inform the Funeral Director at the time of the interment so that the Council can be alerted. The presence of rabbits in some burial grounds can cause distress when fresh flowers are eaten. The Council employs a pest control company to manage the problem but it is the families responsibility to protect the flowers from this damage.
  6. The excavation of all lairs and monument foundations shall only be carried out by those persons approved by the Council.
  7. The Council may find it necessary to temporarily move any monument or other feature, or place any soil or equipment on a lair, if necessary to carry out an interment. The Council will replace relocated items and return as close as possible the lair to its former state. No liability will be accepted for damage unless negligence by Council staff can be proven. Gardens if present will be required to be temporarily removed by the family when a lair is reopened

Cremated Remains 

  1. These Management Rules shall apply equally to the interment of caskets containing cremated remains and also the scattering of cremated remains.
  2. An Application for Interment and scattering of cremated remains must be made in the same way as for the burial of a coffin.
  3. Cremated remains may not be scattered in any part of a burial ground, but instead must be scattered beneath the surface of the ground of the lair held by the Lair Owner following the temporary removal of turf only by a Council representative.

Memorial monuments and headstones

  1. A Lair Owner or their representative memorial mason may submit an application to the Council to erect a headstone upon their lair. The application shall include a sketch with all dimensions and the exact wording of the inscription. Following approval, the Council shall arrange for a foundation excavation of appropriate dimensions to be prepared within an agreed timeframe.
  2. The headstone shall not protrude in any way over that area of the lair, which may be reopened for a burial. The maximum width of the headstone and its base shall be at least 75mm (3”) less than the width of that lair and shall not exceed 1200mm (4 ft) in total height above ground when erected including the exposed base. The Council shall be entitled to remove any unauthorised headstone and its base with all costs being recovered from the Lair Owner.
  3. Lair Owners shall be entitled to place decorative features, including plants, on lairs. Decorative features and plants shall not extend any further than 6 feet (1800m) from the face of the headstone and shall not transgress onto an adjacent lair. The Council shall cease maintenance between adjacent lairs which are decorated and will continue to cut grass on lairs which are not decorated. The Council shall cut grass as close as possible to the foot of a lair but will not strim, hand trim or weedkill up to the boundaries of decorated lairs.
  4. The Lair Owner shall always be responsible for the headstone and arrange for it to be kept in a clean and safe condition to the Council's satisfaction. If the Council considers that this is not being done, then the Council shall require the Lair Owner in writing to restore or remove the headstone within a reasonable period of time. If the Lair Owner cannot be contacted or fails to comply, then the Council shall be entitled to carry out such works as it deems fit, including possible removal. The cost of repairs to or injury caused by the headstone, due to severe weather, falling objects, ground subsidence and vandalism etc., shall be the responsibility of the Lair Owner to insure against, as the Council can accept no responsibility for these events.
  5. Memorial wreaths, flowers, potted plants or any other artefact or temporary item shall be removed from the lair after an appropriate period of time, which shall depend on weather conditions and the discretion of the Council, but shall be no longer than 14 days in the case of cut flowers. Holly/conifer wreaths placed on lairs in December should be removed by the end of February. If any of these items are required to be retained by the family, then prior arrangements must be made to collect them before they become a problem for maintenance, or unsightly. The Council can take no responsibility for any item which becomes damaged following normal maintenance operations, or the requirements of further burials.

General 

  1. No dogs, except guide dogs, shall be permitted in a burial ground.
  2. The Council can amend, alter or add to these rules as and when they consider it appropriate. 
  3. The Council shall be entitled to alter the charges made for
    burials and any associated services under its control, from time to time, as it deems appropriate.
  4. These rules shall be cited as Perth and Kinross Council Management Rules for Cemeteries and Burial Grounds 2007, and shall come into force on the date of their execution superseding all those of an earlier date.