For some years now there has been some discussion among some politicians over the lack of burial space in Tower Hamlets. In fact, like all other inner London boroughs, there is none.
Traditionally over many generations, families have been burying their dead at the City of London crematorium and cemetery in Manor Park, or at the nearby Woodgrange Park Cemetery, or more lately at the Muslim Gardens of Peace cemetery in Hainault.
City of London and Woodgrange are on this map:
And Gardens of Peace is here:
All of them are fairly accessible, not too far from Tube stations and all within easy driving distance. It’s of course a delicate matter, but the nature of cemeteries is that visits are relatively infrequent.
And for many years, some Respect/Lutfurite and Labour councillors have been competing with each other to tell residents (who, we’re told, see this is as a top priority) they’ll find a more convenient “multi-faith” site in the borough.
I last wrote about it here in November 2011 when I highlighted this passage from East End Life:
THE mayor has asked council officers to urgently explore options for a new multi-faith cemetery in Tower Hamlets.
At a meeting of the council’s cabinet on December 7, Mayor Lutfur Rahman made clear that residents wanted to see options for a local cemetery brought forward for discussion.
Speaking after the meeting, he said: “Local people want the option of having a burial plot within their borough.
“Current arrangement with neighbouring boroughs don’t meet that aspiration. I want all the options on the table so we can debate them in an open and transparent manner.”
Full details of the meeting on the council website.
Eighteen months on and after spending an as yet unspecified sum on consultants, Mayor Lutfur Rahman has finally realised what everyone knew at the outset: that there is no feasible space in Tower Hamlets.
How do we know this? Because the Mayor has just published a “mayoral executive decision” (these things are very much below the radar: he does not press release them or email them to wider groups of residents).
Instead, Lutfur and his lieutenant in charge of money, Alibor Choudhary, have decided they will spend £3million of our money (cost-cutting crisis? What crisis?!) on acquiring, with the help of an unspecified “charitable trust”, a three-acre plot of land with enough room for 3,000 graves–exclusively for Tower Hamlets residents.
So where is it? According to Lutfur’s decision, it will be to the “north east of Tower Hamlets….just inside the M25”!
So further away than the current options.
Because negotiations are still ongoing, Lutfur has refused to say who the charitable trust is, or where exactly the plot is…but these details will emerge, I’m sure.
At the same time, he has proposed scrapping the current subsidy of £225 that people get for burying their dead at the existing sites. That’s a budget of £30,000, which he has suggested will be ring-fenced to contribute to the running costs of the new cemetery “just inside the M25”.
Now, the City of London cemetery is not in Tower Hamlets but it is quintessentially East End. Generations are buried together there. I’m not sure many of these families will appreciate this.
I suspect that in making this decison Lutfur might well have stirred many of them into doing what they haven’t done for quite some time: get out and vote. And not for him.
Here are the background documents for the decision:
Trial by Jeory 
This is supposed to be a multi-faith cemetery. Perhaps we will be told what facilities will be provided to meet the needs of Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and people of no faith.
Better to have the site at Mulbery Place – where so many dreams, aspirations and promises have died.
Sorry to be brutal. But a cemetry? In London? In 2013? Land in London is astonishingly scarce. Surely we have to face up to the reality that burial just isn’t feasible if you live somewhere as crowded as London. Land is a very precious resource around London and a new cemetery isn’t a good use of that scarce asset.
I’m sorry. I don’t understand. Death is the one thing of which we can all be certain and is the reason why there have been insurance services for the costs of a funeral for a very long time. Most people have a long time to save up for their send-off. Don’t we all have a responsibility to look after ourselves to the best of our abilities?
Why is the Council providing a subsidy for a non-statutory service?
If burial is required because of its religious significance to the individual shouldn’t the religious community to which the deceased belongs not be responsible for developing cemeteries and helping families with the costs of burial and visiting the grave – and NOT the Council?
Why must my Council tax pay for somebody else’s religious preference?
Or is the Council going to be fair to all council tax payers and also provide a financial subsidy as an incentive to those who favour cremation as an environmentally sound response to the needs of the dead?
The land which exists in London is needed for homes for people to live in and open space for people to exercise in and get some relief from the very crowded existence we all live these days. It’s absolutely wrong to use it for cemeteries.
Land in London needs to be dedicated to the needs of the living.
If the dead are buiried outside the Borough, will they lose their right to vote?
not if they are “multi faith”, silly!
Why does your login on here look strangely appropriate given the nature of this article?
Makes sense, spend £3 million to save £30 thousand a year.
I assume they are talking about the burial ground at Epping
Which burial ground? The site they’ve identified is inside the m25
Very true in which case the only one I can think of with free space would be Upminster, that could be described as north east
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I guarantee this will not be ‘multi-faith’ by the time the dead have been buried. It will be pro- well, lets just say that in time, Christians, Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists wont be accomodated…