Rising Concern Over Sefton Council's 'Wilding' Cemetery Policy

In this month, known for remembrance, pressure is mounting to review and reverse the Sefton Council policy of turning parts of cemeteries into wildflower meadows (wilding).
 
In practice this has led to wholesale neglect and disrespect according to John Pugh , opposition leader on Sefton. 

He points to Duke St Cemetery where many graves are now inaccessible and overgrown with sycamores and other trees taking root. He has released a video to underline his point. https://vimeo.com/1030307301?share=copy 

“It is not that the council has got everything wrong. Maintaining a large and impressive graveyard that dates back to the 1860s is admittedly challenging, but “wilding” in this case just means neglect. 

"Unless the situation is addressed soon it will be irrecoverable. Council officers to be fair recognise that things haven’t panned out as planned but my guess is that serious money is needed to restore the “wild “ areas to an acceptable condition.”

The Liberal Democrat leader added ," Not only does it show disrespect to the dead and their relatives, but people do not seem to appreciate how much of Southport’s history is buried in Duke St.  I would invite people to study my video and come to their own conclusions but my thinking is that action is need now. The sycamore and nature in general does not take a day off"