Blaris Cemetary #UNJUSTFEESBLARIS

The Issue

Honour Pre-2015 Blaris Cemetery Grave Owners with Resident Burial Fees

The Issue

Families who purchased graves in Blaris Cemetery while living within Lisburn Borough Council are now being charged “non-resident” burial fees solely because council boundaries changed in 2015.

Many affected families never moved home.

Yet despite owning graves purchased while legally part of Lisburn Borough Council, they are now treated as “non-residents” and charged substantially higher burial fees to reopen existing family graves.

This issue affects many families from areas transferred from the former Lisburn Borough Council into Belfast City Council during the 2015 boundary changes, including Dunmurry, Poleglass, Lagmore, Twinbrook, Kilwee, Colin Glen, Seymour Hill, Mount Eagles, Ladybrook, parts of Derriaghy, the Blacks Road area, Edenderry and surrounding Colin communities. It may also affect many other families who purchased graves in Blaris Cemetery while they were residents of the former Lisburn Borough Council area prior to the boundary changes.

My Story

My parents were residents of Lisburn Borough Council for over 30 years.

When my father died in 2013, we purchased a family grave in Blaris Cemetery. At that time, the resident grave opening fee was charged.

When my mother died in 2019 and was buried in the very same grave, we were charged non-resident fees because our area had been reassigned under the 2015 council boundary changes, despite my mother never moving house.

The difference in charges was shocking.

The same family grave.
The same cemetery.
The same family home.
But two completely different burial charges.

This was not due to any choice made by families, but because administrative boundaries changed after plots had already been purchased.

Why This Feels Unfair

Families purchased graves in good faith while legally residing within Lisburn Borough Council.

The council later changed the boundaries, yet existing grave owners lost resident status through no fault or decision of their own.

Many families only became aware of these changes after a bereavement, at one of the most distressing times imaginable.

A temporary subsidy scheme reportedly operated between 2016 and 2019, but only for families whose bereavements occurred during that limited period.

This effectively meant some families qualified for reduced charges while others, experiencing the exact same circumstances ..did not, simply because their loved one died outside the timeframe.

Current Burial Charges

According to Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council’s current burial charges:

Resident grave opening fee: £380
Non-resident grave opening fee: £1,400
Additional weekend interment charge for non-residents: £1,000

This means a non-resident weekend burial can now cost up to £2,400 for a single grave opening alone, before wider funeral expenses are added.

Council burial charges can be viewed here:

https://www.lisburncastlereagh.gov.uk/w/revised-scale-of-charges-for-burial-grounds

To put this into perspective, some of these charges are now over 6 times higher than standard resident burial fees and significantly higher than neighbouring councils such as Belfast. Make that make sense?

And this is important:
These costs are ONLY for opening the grave.

They do NOT include:

funeral director costs,
coffins,
flowers,
church services,
headstones,
transport,
obituary notices, or other funeral expenses.

These are additional charges added on top.

What many people also don’t realise is this fee applies EACH TIME the grave is reopened.

So if multiple loved ones are buried in the same family grave over time, families can face these opening charges again and again for every burial.

What We Are Asking

We are simply asking Lisburn & Castlereagh City Council to honour resident burial rates for graves purchased before the 2015 boundary changes by families who were residents of the former Lisburn Borough Council at the time of purchase.

This would:

Recognise legitimate expectations made at the time plots were purchased.
Treat long standing grave owners fairly.
Prevent families from facing severe additional costs when reopening existing family graves.

Questions That Need Answered

Why should families bear the financial consequences of council boundary changes they had no control over?
Why are families reopening existing graves being retrospectively reclassified as “non-residents”?
Why were affected grave owners not individually contacted regarding these major changes?
Why is there no protected status for pre-2015 grave owners?
Why is there not a fairer Northern Ireland-wide approach to burial charges?

Please Support This Petition
Even if your own family has not been affected by these charges, many people believe bereaved families should not face substantially increased burial costs caused solely by council boundary changes beyond their control.

By signing and sharing this petition, you can help raise awareness of an issue that continues to affect families reopening long-standing family graves in Blaris Cemetery.

Please support, share and help us call for a fair and compassionate resolution.

Petition:

https://www.change.org/UNJUSTFEESBLARIS

#UNJUSTFEESBLARIS
#BlarisCemetery
#BurialFeeFairness

Related coverage:

Chris MPetition Starter

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