The Parish Council has re-opened Nanpean and St Stephen Churchtown cemeteries from today, Tuesday 14 April 2020.

After asking for further clarification, the Ministry of Justice has made the following statement-

“The Ministry of Justice has confirmed that Section 5 (8) of the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations 2020 requires those responsible for crematoria to close them except for funerals. This requirement to close would also include a cemetery if the crematorium is situated in the cemetery, which could then only be open for burials. The regulation does not apply to other cemeteries, which can stay open”

For those that are interested, the problem with the interpretation arises from a badly worded section in the legislation, which stated: “(8) A person who is responsible for a crematorium or burial ground must ensure that, during the emergency period, the crematorium is closed to members of the public, except for funerals or burials.”

It seems that the UK Government may have meant for the legislation to cover burial grounds and crematoria, but left out reference to burial grounds in the second part of the clause.

However, if you do visit the cemeteries, when out on your daily exercise, please be careful and continue to respect guidelines in relation to social distancing.