Rye cemetery nearly full

Rother Council cemeteries officer Rosemary Burt has confirmed about 10 years’ worth of space left in its two cemeteries in Rye and Bexhill.

The council recently acquired more space to extend the cemetery at St Mary’s Lane, Bexhill, but space at the Rye cemetery, at Rye Hill, remains a real problem.

Rye Rother councillor Sam Souster said: “This is a serious issue. There is not a lot of space left. The council has been looking at acquiring land to extend the cemetery but none seems to be available.”

Rosemary Burt said: “It can be difficult to predict the amount of space left in a cemetery as death rates fluctuate year on year, but it is predicted that there is currently around 10 years worth of space left in the two Rother District Council run cemeteries.

The three hectare extension at Bexhill will offer as much as 100 years worth of space.

“As well as the cemeteries owned by the district, there are parish council-owned cemeteries in Robertsbridge, Northiam and Battle and many churches in the district are still open for burials.”

Battle’s town council run cemetery will reach capacity in two to three years if work is not carried out to extend it.