Newsagent wants to establish a campaign group to force cemetery upgrade

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A fuming Paisley newsagent has turned to people power in a bid to force Renfrewshire Council into action over "disgraceful" Hawkhead Cemetery.Des Barr wants the site, which houses the graves of his parents and other family members, upgraded desperately.

He says his concerns have been echoed by other visitors to the crumbling cemetery and he now hopes to set up a campaign group to exert pressure on the inert local authority.

Outraged Des says work needs to be carried out urgently to address a string of issues at the Paisley site, including:* a growing number of potholes on pavements and roads *crumbling pathways now covered in moss *unkempt grass and*piles of dead leaves left to cluster throughout the cemetery since last year.The 61-year-old also wants action over the council's decision to "topple" ageing gravestones at cemeteries such as Hawkhead and lay them flat - we told yesterday how the authority claimed it would "sensitively preserve" memorials gravestones of children killed in the 1929 Glen Cinema tragedy, which have also fallen foul of the practice.Now Des wants to see families - who were not notified about the council's plans - and who have been affected by the safety measure which the council claim is in line with Scottish Government guidelines, told what will be done with once-treasured markers left lying flat on the ground.Desmond said: "We’re certainly not criticising the cemetery staff because there are so few of them and they are fighting a losing battle trying to keep the cemetery tidy."The state the cemetery is in just now is disrespectful to the people who are buried there – they may be gone, but they are certainly not forgotten."Don't miss the latest headlines from around Renfrewshire.

Sign up to our