The Church authorities in Belfast have defended its decision to charge £3,000 stg for new burial plots at the city’s Milltown Cemetery. Fr John McManus said the price was justified because Milltown was privately run and did not receive any subsidy from Belfast City Council and the charge included maintenance costs.
It emerged last week that Milltown Cemetery was selling 1,300 new plots for up to £3,000 each which will generate around £3.9m in revenue.
In comparison, the only other graveyard in the city – the mainly Protestant Roselawn cemetery - is owned by Belfast City Council and charges as little as £823 for a grave to city ratepayers and £2437 to people living outside the city.
Fr McManus said the Milltown trustees had no option but to charge the prices they were charging because of the high cost involved in maintaining the cemetery grounds.
Local councils were prohibited by law from aiding private cemeteries, which meant upkeep of Milltown cemetery was entirely the responsibility of its trustees, he added.
The cemetery costs £300,000 a year to maintain and last year, a further £750,000 was spent on improvements to it.
Milltown cemetery is also understood to be owed as much as £80,000 by families with loved ones buried there.
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(Source: CIN)