A walk in the cemetery with councillors

I got hot and sweaty digging in the garden this morning, then retired for a wash and lunch, before going into town. I had a planning meeting this afternoon with Eva and Sue, the town clerk, setting the agenda for the next Finance committee meeting in a couple of weeks. When I left the office I was really surprised to find it was raining hard, as I thought I might wander around, looking for a blip, before going back to the garden to do some planting.

I got home to find Woodpeckers had found some lovely new 'old' toys, including some early wooden jigsaws and a classic counting game for children, which she had known herself as a child. I really liked the artwork on them and they may be seen hereabouts one of these days.

At 6pm I had to go to the town cemetery, which wasn't difficult as we live next door to it. Jim, the Town Council's Green Spaces manager, was going to give councillors a tour of the old and new cemetery sites on adjacent parts of the hillside of the Horns valley. It was very useful for me and three recently appointed councillors. Until just over a year ago, the Finance committee was responsible for overseeing the Green Spaces team, but now that has passed to a special committee chaired by Rob. This is a much better solution, as Rob works for Natural England and is not only a senior councillor, but is also very clued up on traditional Cotswold grassland management. The cemetery is a unique site, and is run as a nature reserve as well as a place for people to be buried, so there are many issues that must be addressed, including some that can create conflict if not carefully managed.

We heard from both Jim and Rob about the specific parts of the cemetery, about the trees, wildlife, habitats and historical methods that need to be respected. The rain tipped down the whole time we were there, but it didn't stop us covering a lot of ground and hearing of many possible alternatives that must be considered. The GS committee is about to prepare a revised management plan for the cemetery which will guide their work for many years to come. We need to then present it to the public, who use the cemetery for many purposes, and who often don't understand for example why certain areas are allowed to become like meadows with grasses and wild flowers growing very tall.

Communication is essential in order to not bring the community with us. In my picture there was a discussion about the grasses and some rare unidentified new flowers that have been found, now self-seeding very happily. Should they be allowed to stay? What about the effect of cutting the meadow on the glow-worms which are found in abundance in this area? Which trees should be cut back or removed, if at all? Should we allow any new planting of trees in the 'new' cemetery as requested by some local people in memory of their loved ones? Where might they go? Should the encroachment of secondary woodland from the thickly wooded areas be stopped or perhaps managed? Despite being very wet I rather enjoyed the process. It is amazing what I learn as a councillor.