Tipperary County Council appeals to owners of pre-purchased graves to 'surrender' them
Tipperary County Council has been forced to appeal for those who may have pre-purchased graves to “surrender” them due to a shortage.The council made the appeal in a letter published in June, asking landowners within close proximity to New Inn and Knockgraffon to dispose of some land to develop a burial ground.This comes as the council has not been able to secure a suitable site.As it stands, the graveyard at New Inn Church has little to no capacity for new graves.“This has been a concern for some time and Tipperary County Council has been actively exploring potential sites within the proximity of New Inn for the provision of a new burial ground. Unfortunately, to date, Tipperary County Council has not secured a suitable site for various reasons,” read the letter.The letter continued: "A suitable site has to satisfy the following criteria: (a) the suitability of the site, i.e. soil suitability, ground water levels, rock level, etc; (b) the susceptibility of the site to flooding; (c) archaeological constraints; (d)access, egress and car parking ; and (e) planning compliance with the Council's County Development Plan.” The letter indicated that if a landowner is interested and wishes to explore the possibility of disposing of some of their land to facilitate new burial ground, they can contact the parish office or the Environment and Climate Action Section of Tipperary County Council at 052-6166406.In the meantime, the council has appealed to those who may have pre-purchased double or single graves in the past to consider surrendering the graves unlikely to be used, in an effort to alleviate the current capacity issue.
