COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF CLONDALKIN AREA COMMITTEE

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

MOTION NO. 13

MOTION: Councillor B. Bonner

That this Committee calls on the Chief Executive to present a report on wheelchair accessibility in Newcastle cemetery.  It appears that in many parts of the cemetery there is no proper access for wheelchairs or for mini diggers. 

Can some of the kerbing be removed to improve accessibility?

Can kerbing be restricted on future graves so that accessibility is maintained?

REPORT:

It is not possible to remove kerbing from existing grave plots where a burial has taken place and kerbing has already been laid by the plot owner.  Each grave plot is 9 ft long which is intended to accommodate a 1ft wide headstone foundation as well as a large coffin or casket, while also affording some working space for gravediggers both at the top and bottom of the grave plot.  In order to ensure that the largest of coffins can be accommodated this length must be maintained.  Accessibility may be an issue in the older sections of our graveyards where the width of footpath between plots in many cases is as narrow as 2ft, and this may cause difficulty for wheelchair users and others.  Regrettably it is not possible to rectify this issue retrospectively. 

The practice of constructing narrow paths such as these in our graveyards was discontinued some time ago, with all footpaths in newly constructed graveyards and new sections of existing graveyards now being a minimum of 1 metre wide (or 3ft 3 ins).