Beverley Parry-Jones has been left heartbroken by her two-year fight with the council over a bench positioned so close to the graves of her parents people are walking over their resting spot
A heartbroken daughter has fumed at the council who she says placed a wooden bench too close to the graves of her parents.
Members of the public are now allegedly walking over the burial sites of Maureen Jones, 85, and David Parry Jones, 89, as the council placed a bench in close proximity to their resting spots. Beverley Parry-Jones says she has been fighting the council for two years over the positioning of the bench, which is just 18 inches away from the graves.
She claims the bench was so close it had to be moved out of the way and then returned to its original spot when the time came to bury her father, David, in 2022. The Broughton cemetery addition in North Wales is now a bed of controversy for Beverley who is still fighting with the council over the position of the bench.
Wrexham county councillor Beverley has been asking Broughton Community Council to move a memorial bench that has been put next to her parents’ grave. She said: “I find it so hurtful, after everything they’ve done for this community, that they can’t have a headstone. They just have a wooden cross and they deserve so much more. I have seen footprints in the snow where people have actually walked over the grave.
“I don’t know what part of ‘it’s too close’ the community council doesn’t get. I have tried for mediation through a solicitor, speaking to the family [whose loved one the bench is dedicated to] – the community council has completely disregarded everything.” It is making her job as a community councillor “extremely hard” as she must leave meetings if it is mentioned due to a conflict of interest, she said.
Beverley added: “To sit there with these people. My family is being completely disregarded and walked over. The stonemason has told me the grave will never settle while there is footfall going across it.” The stress, Beverley says, means her brother cannot visit the grave as he is “so upset”. Funeral director Jonathen Harty believes the community should take action at the gravesite. He said: “My report stated this can easily be remedied – there’s a section just down from the grave where it could still be relatively close and doesn’t impact any other grave.
“It makes no sense to have the bench there – it looks, odd. It just does. I went to visit the cemetery and I noticed it straight away. It’s far too close to the grave. I got involved because I thought this was unusual and unfair. A lot of local people have also contacted me and told me this isn’t right. Beverley can’t put the headstone up until this is resolved. All she’s asking for is a bit of consideration and for the bench to be moved a few meters down to where it’s not going to impact on anyone.”
A spokesperson for Broughton Community Council said: “The community council has considered this issue on a number of occasions and totally refutes the claim that the positioning of the bench interferes in any way with the Parry-Jones family’s grave. The specific location of the bench was requested by the purchaser in memory of her late partner who tragically died at a young age after a long battle with cancer. The council has taken advice from a number of organisations, who have all agreed that the council has complied with the necessary regulations and policies.
“As with previous benches, the council agreed the principle of an additional bench, with the Clerk liaising with the purchaser and stonemason as to its exact location. This is standard practice in many councils. In addition the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales has also considered the issue and concluded that the community council has acted appropriately. A compromise solution was offered to the Parry-Jones family’s solicitors in November 2022 which was rejected.
“The council has consulted with a number of local stonemasons who have all confirmed that they would be able to erect a headstone on the grave. Finally, the community council does not accept that Mr Harty’s report is independent as, as he himself states, it was commissioned on behalf of the Parry-Jones family.”