Save Southwark Woods (31st October 2016)
We visited the SW corner of the cemetery where expansion has been planned into a wooded area. Trees and green space are under threat across London. Our city desperately needs these areas to be protected and more to be created.
Planned exhumation highlights how frivolous the practice of burial is. Each is a temporary marker visited rarely by a few individuals. This is an inconsiderate use of space compared to what the wider community could benefit from.
Our city needs all its space to be of maximum use for all its residents.
Green space provides relaxation even when viewed from afar. A skyline of trees. Woodland provides exercise for families and their pets, helping to turn the tide of obesity throughout Britain’s population. It provides a traditional ecosystem, reduces flooding and cleans our air.
There are fields nearby which provide areas to play. The woodland feels small by comparison. Expanding the woodland should be the direction we take. That will benefit of the community, the environment and the character of our local area.
Step free access in the new location could be achieved by including it from the start – a feature which is lacking in the current woods, making it inaccessible to individuals and families how may find it therapeutic.
To echo the sentiments of Save Southwark Woods:
“It is utterly irresponsible and wrong for Southwark to make any decision about the Old Nursery site as they are in the middle of a 'review' of this out-of-date, environmentally and socially destructive, financially wasteful and hugely unpopular Cemetery Strategy. Southwark should carry out a full Statutory Consultation on all burial policy and cemetery plans, not just a ‘review’.
“We are for 'Option 5': No burial, make it a 3-acre Nature Reserve without burial.”