Responsibility for churchyard wall to return to the diocese
Following numerous incidences of damage from large and heavy goods vehicles in recent months, Reepham Town Council decided in March to give 12 months’ notice to return the responsibility for maintenance of the churchyard and churchyard wall to the diocese.
Photo: Reepham Town Council
The town council currently has responsibility for the wall, based on a written agreement with the Parochial Church Council (PCC) in the mid-1980s.
Members of the town council met with PCC representatives some months ago, to advise that the maintenance of the wall is becoming prohibitively expensive and to discuss options, but no response from the PCC had been received.
According to the town council, the wall on Church Hill is Grade I listed, with the remainder of the wall Grade II listed.
A recent meeting of the town council was told that its insurance is “woefully inadequate” for the wall as a whole and that it could no longer afford the insurance premiums, which are ultimately paid for by local taxpayers.
It is understood that if the PCC refuses to take responsibility for the churchyard and the churchyard wall, it could then be taken over by Broadland District Council.
The PCC has been contacted for comment.
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