A son has complained about the council’s upkeep of Royton Cemetery after discovering that the grass surrounding many graves, including his mother’s, was damaged.
Matt Brierley, whose mother died in 2005, was visiting her grave on Mother’s Day when he said he was shocked to see “dead, shriveled and yellowing grass” around the graves.
Mr Brierley said: ‘They have effectively desecrated the final resting place of many.
He added that the weedkiller was used around the cemetery instead of the weeds being trimmed and cut.
He said he was left in a state of “shock and anger” to find the weedkiller had been used “liberately around and between the graves”.
He currently lives in Bristol but says he comes to visit his mother’s grave several times a year.
He accused the council and the maintenance team of being lazy.
Matt described using weed killer as ‘lazy’
Mr Brierley said: “The wide spaces between the graves are the worst because there is no reason, except laziness, to use weed killer there.
“It’s just sloppy pitch maintenance, a quick and cheap fix.”
He added that he was further offended that most weed killers contain glyphosate, which the World Health Organization has declared a probable carcinogen.
Mr Brierley’s mother died of cancer.
Reached for comment, a spokesman for Oldham Council said: ‘We take the upkeep of our local graveyards very seriously at Oldham Council as we know how important resting places are to people. loved ones.
“We are particularly careful around headstones and memorials and for this reason we avoid using gardening equipment such as brush cutters and large lawn mowers which could cause unnecessary damage.
“Instead, we use herbicide treatment to create a barrier between the grass and the headstones, reducing the need to get close to these areas.
“While this may make grassy areas unsightly at first, we would like to reassure concerned residents that this is a temporary side effect and will fade within a few weeks.
“We would like to apologize for any distress that has been caused.”
Council said ‘unsightly’ appearance ‘will fade in weeks’
