I have started this petition as I am particularly concerned about the church's approach to enforcing rules regarding what can and can not be placed on the graves and am aware of others voicing a similar opinion.

Whilst I appreciate some rules must be in place to allow upkeep of the churchyard e.g removal of gravel - the vicar has been quite vocal on a local Facebook group that these rules are being enforced as some have complained of the momentos on graves being "excessive". Therefore showing that this enforcment is for asthetic and not practical reasons following complaints from what I imagine may be a minority of people - I genuinely question how many people can be concerned about what is on graves they are not directly visiting. This is surely upsetting many to please a few who feel the need to comment on how others choose the greive?

They will soon be removing any glass, plastic, fabric, ceramic and metal - followed shortly after by the removal of plants. It has now been confirmed that the church will be re turfing these graves, however I imagine some of these plants which have been allowed to grow undisturbed for some time likely hold some sentimental value to the families effected which the turf will not!

Personally, I feel that it should be the choice of the family to grieve in whatever way they feel necessary as long as this is not causing direct harm to others, and furthermore the churches approach to removing and disposing of these items without directly contacting families seems obscene! I can only imagine how heart breaking it would be for someone to visit the grave of their parent, child or family member only to find items such as windmills, teddy bears, sentimental ornaments etc missing. Announcing such rule enforcement on a social media platform such as Facebook is extremely alienating to those who do not use this and I'm sure many are unaware of these plans.

Finally, I feel the poor delivery of this message combined with the only option left after enforcement being bare graves or the regular replacement of fresh flowers is not beneficial to the church yard or the community and is somewhat ableist in its assumption that all will be able to manage the suggestions  e.g. the elderly and those with disabilities may struggle to visit as regularly to provide fresh flowers and may be distressed at the thought of leaving the graves of loved ones bare.  These changes may also have financial implications that not all can meet - a plastic bouquet, plant or ornament obviously lasts much longer than a bunch of fresh flowers.

I am interested to see if many others are bothered by this and hope that if so, they will sign this quick and easy petition. If enough evidence exists that this is not only my personal view I hope to link this petition to the church council for their consideration in the hope that they may reassess and develop a more considered amendment better suited to the communities needs.