'Total lack of respect' for Tomnahurich Cemetery in Inverness, says journalist left outraged following nine-hour trip to place flowers on family graves
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A former Inverness man who made a nine-hour round trip to his home city to place flowers on family graves was left heartbroken and outraged at the state of the cemetery.
Mike Edwards said there is “a total lack of respect” for Tomnahurich Cemetery where branches and rubbish blocked the path.
His experience follows other recently-raised complaints and concerns about the cemetery, including damaged headstones due to falling trees and speeding drivers using it as a rat run.
Mr Edwards, an author, journalist and army reserve officer, made the annual trip on his birthday from Helensburgh to lay flowers at his parents’ and grandparents’ graves.
“When I arrived, I was heartbroken to see piles of old leaves and branches and rubbish like water containers and sweetie papers blocking the path,” he said.
“I had to walk on graves to reach my family’s graves.
“My father was a great gardener and he took me here every Sunday to tend to his parents’ graves. He was all about respect for the dead and he would have been deeply upset by this.”
He believed the rubbish had been there for weeks and was beside the area set aside for stillborn children.
“It’s abhorrent,” he said. “Whoever is in charge of outdoor spaces in this town needs to look at themselves.
“Not only is it a short cut for people who let their dogs run free, kids coming home from school and speeding cars, it’s also a dump.”
He said while he was there, cemetery staff moved around on diggers and dumper trucks following a funeral but ignored mess left long ago.
“When you think what people pay in council tax in this town, it’s an outrage that somewhere as special as the cemetery isn’t treated more appropriately,” he said.
A council spokesman said clean-up work after the recent storm damage was under way in the cemetery and staff were currently prioritising the most urgent works in terms of health and safety concerns.
“Once this work is completed they will move on to other areas in the cemetery that require being cleaned up,” he said.
Storm damage at Inverness cemetery
