Portslade: Man slams Brighton council for overgrown cemetery

Portslade Cemetery covers seven acres and has hundreds of graves, including war graves.

However, much of it is now covered with 2ft high grass and weeds.

Portslade cemetery (Image: Dave Bonwick)

Furious Dave Bonwick said: “It’s ugly and disrespectful, there’s no respect for the dead.

“My dear sister and mother are buried here. I’m 88 years old and my garden is still kept neat and tidy and the cemetery should be the same.

“It shouldn’t be like this and we shouldn’t have to scream and shout to get it done.”

Dave, from Yapton, regularly travels to Portslade to visit his mother and sister’s graves.

The Argus reported concerns about the cemetery from residents in Portslade last year. They said then the grass was “waist height”.

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The cemetery in Victoria Road no longer has new graves available. Among the hundreds of headstones are those for people who died in the first and second world wars.

Brighton and Hove City Council has now launched a review of how it maintains the cemetery and uses its resources.

Currently the site is partially maintained by Woodvale Volunteers, who help with the upkeep on a weekly basis.

Brighton and Hove council Leader Bella Sankey said: “Portslade Cemetery was first opened in 1873. It is a huge and important part of the heritage of Brighton and Hove and where many people’s loved ones have been laid to rest, including many war graves.

An overgrown Portslade cemetery (Image: Dave Bonwick)

“We understand that residents have concerns about the cemetery having become overgrown, making it difficult to find some headstones.

“We have therefore asked officers to launch a review of how we maintain the cemetery to ensure that we can provide a respectful and well-maintained site for our deceased residents and the family and friends that visit their graves.

“Our review will involve visitors to the cemetery and look at how we can make best use of the resources available to us.”