ST MARY'S CHURCHYARD

That this House notes with disappointment the decision of the Deputy Chancellor of the Diocese of Chelmsford not to grant the faculty requested for certain work to make safe monuments in St Mary's Churchyard, Little Ilford, a closed churchyard responsibility for the maintenance of which has been transferred to the London Borough of Newham; regrets that, as a result, unless funding is made available by the Borough for the full restoration of these monuments, they will remain a danger to the public and a bar to the effective use of the churchyard as an educational resource, as illustrated in pictures on the back cover of the Environment, Transport and the Regions Committee's Eighth Report of Sessions 2000-01, HC.91; recalls the statement made in oral evidence to the Environment Sub-committee of the Select Committee on the Environment, Transport and Regional Affairs by the then Chancellor of the Diocese, prior to this decision, that in such cases 'the important thing is to avoid danger'; and calls on the Government to review the legislation pertaining to closed churchyards with a view to enabling local authorities to make sensible decisions regarding the maintenance of closed churchyards for which they have legal responsibility.