PARENTS who have children buried at Rooksdown Children's Cemetery have welcomed plans to change ownership of the site after concerns were raised about its upkeep.

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council passed a resolution at a meeting of the authority on Thursday, March 21, to start the process of accepting the transfer of ownership and maintenance of the closed children’s cemetery. 

This decision comes after years of concern from parents about the state of the cemetery. 

Currently owned by Hampshire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which oversees Basingstoke, Winchester, and Andover hospitals, the cemetery had fallen into a state of disrepair, with overgrown hedges obscuring some graves.

Jack Ward, who lost two children in 2013-2014 and is a frequent visitor to the cemetery, is one of the many parents delighted to hear the latest news.

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Jack played a key role in advocating for change by starting a Facebook support group for parents in 2017 and even organising clean-up days to address the overgrown areas.

“Once when I went to the cemetery on my child's anniversary, I saw the overgrown hedges and felt sorry for the children who had their graves on the edges. The people responsible for the maintenance of the cemetery were cutting only the grass and not the overgrown hedges. 

“So I went back home and set up the Facebook group so that I could help parents network and draw support from each other. I think people underestimate the kind of support parents need.

“I also arranged a clean-up day so that parents could bring their own tools and help tidy up the cemetery.”

His initiative gained momentum with the involvement of Rooksdown ward councillors Simon Minas-Bound, Jay Ganesh, and David McIntyre, who joined forces to organise more cleanup days recently.

During the recent council meeting Cllr Minas-Bound, who proposed a motion for the change of ownership, also shared a brief history of the cemetery.

"Rooksdown cemetery first started being used as a burial ground when Park Prewett Hospital was used in the First World War by Canadian soldiers and then continued to be used after the war by the hospital," he said.

"The Canadian soldiers were later repatriated to their homeland or reinterred in Woking Road cemetery. It wasn't until much later in 1981 that it became the children's cemetery."

Cllr Minas-Bound said his biggest thanks go to a parent named Gerry.

"Gerry is the mother of Christine who was the very first child to be buried in the cemetery exactly 43 years ago this month," he said.

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"After Christine spent some time at Saxon Wood Special School just across the road it was Gerry who first asked for Christine to be laid to rest there [at Rooksdown cemetery] so that she could see the school that she loved so very much even so when she was very ill. In doing so Gerry created the children's cemetery. In that small act she wasn't to know she was also creating the site for Christine's best friend Heather to be buried next to her as she sadly passed only 16 days later."

Seconding the resolution, council leader Paul Harvey said it was important that the children’s cemetery was properly cared for and looked after.

He added that the council would have to investigate the matter further for the transfer of ownership.

A spokesperson for Hampshire Hospitals said: “Given the highly sensitive nature of this burial ground, great care needs to be taking in looking after the cemetery in the best way possible and we support Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council as they take on the responsibility for maintenance.   

“Hampshire Hospitals has been funding a contractor to attend the cemetery once a month in winter and once a fortnight during the summer months. Member of our estates and operations team would also visit regularly to empty the bins and tackle issues such as fly tipping – which can be a challenge to monitor as the burial ground is a distance from our site.

“The entrance gates and fences have been replaced, and tree maintenance has been carried out. Individual headstones are cared for by loved ones.”