Families’ upset at rose removal at Pleasington Cemetry (From Blackburn Citizen)

Poorly handled, it would have been at least fair to let people know what was planned, the reasons behind it and time to re-locate any plants they felt strongly about to their own gardens or other spot. must have been awful to simply turn up and find them already dug up and thrown away.

The answer lies in who is in charge -- Coun Faryad Hussain, executive member for environmental improvement and sustainability at Blackburn with Darwen Council.

Totally agree if it was my family lying there I would like to have been notified first as I would have gathered my rose bush in memory of my loved one and took it to be replanted at home. Absolute disrespectful!!!!!!!
!!

An absolute disgrace, how dare he make a change such as this an not consult on it, no doubt he's one of the idiots who agreed to allow islamic religious events to be held in the same cemetery.

No mention of the damage having hundreds of people roaming all over would cause the cemetery. This man has no respect for the Christians
buried here.

jimpy0 wrote:
The answer lies in who is in charge -- Coun Faryad Hussain, executive member for environmental improvement and sustainability at Blackburn with Darwen Council.

If they are not cutting the grass to make a mulch or create a compost heap to replace the nutrients in the soil, why not throw down a bit of bone meal?
You don't have to be an Harry Wheatcroft to grow a few daft roses.
Oh, and don't be so keen to pull up the nettles, it's where Ladybirds will lay eggs and they don't half love eating up your Aphid and Black Fly problems.

Next week, how to get something good from your Granny, apart from ten bob to go the pictures, using a couple of bags of BBQ briquettes, a box of fire lighters and a cement mixer.

Coun Faryad Hussain, executive member for environmental improvement and sustainability at Blackburn with Darwen Council, said: “We have planted shrubs because we found the roses were not growing properly, because of the inclement weather and poor soil.

People have spread the ashes of their loved ones there!!! The presence of the plaques whilst not to be denigrated, is not the important thing; its where their relatives are! To do this shows a complete lack of respect and caring. I have a feeling that the cultural differences on the part of certain members of the council need to be questioned. How would Councillor Hussain feel if his relatives were disturbed in their final resting place because the "roses weren't growing properly?"

For God's sake this has nothing to do with Islam but a council which again was found wanting when it came to effective communication.

I'd swear some of you place an alarm to notify you of any opportunity to be racist.

I have relatives buried at Pleasington. Frankly they are dead and don't give a stuff so lay off the emotive rubbish. Cemeteries are for those left behind and Pleasington is a lovely, well-cared for site. Please don't blow this out of proportion.

badref wrote:
For God's sake this has nothing to do with Islam but a council which again was found wanting when it came to effective communication.

I'd swear some of you place an alarm to notify you of any opportunity to be racist.

I have relatives buried at Pleasington. Frankly they are dead and don't give a stuff so lay off the emotive rubbish. Cemeteries are for those left behind and Pleasington is a lovely, well-cared for site. Please don't blow this out of proportion.

totally agree, it has nothing to do with islam, or culture. What if the roses were left to rot then what.. you would be complaining they not looking after after the roses. What if it was a white man? with all due respect, its a big site to maintain and at least they replaced it with shrubs. It really shows how deep the roots are of the racist, and prejudiced people. just waiting to have a pop at every opportunity. Also shows how uneducated and backward they are.

255.255.255.0 wrote:

badref wrote:
For God's sake this has nothing to do with Islam but a council which again was found wanting when it came to effective communication.

I'd swear some of you place an alarm to notify you of any opportunity to be racist.

I have relatives buried at Pleasington. Frankly they are dead and don't give a stuff so lay off the emotive rubbish. Cemeteries are for those left behind and Pleasington is a lovely, well-cared for site. Please don't blow this out of proportion.

totally agree, it has nothing to do with islam, or culture. What if the roses were left to rot then what.. you would be complaining they not looking after after the roses. What if it was a white man? with all due respect, its a big site to maintain and at least they replaced it with shrubs. It really shows how deep the roots are of the racist, and prejudiced people. just waiting to have a pop at every opportunity. Also shows how uneducated and backward they are.

The top and bottom of the matter is, many people believe that the final resting place of their loved ones, albeit in cremated form, is treated with some level of respect and on the face of it, this has been disregarded in this instance. When deciding to make any significant changes to this place, common decency requires that you take into account those that are bereaved. Since the decision has been taken by someone that has singularily failed to communicate this to those affected, this shows a certain lack of sensitivity. Whilst I agree that some comments are somewhat pointed with a racist barb, this could be explained by the sentiment that underlies them and the wish to lash out in an hurtful way at those deemed to be responsible.
It is the little things in life that mean so much to people, more so, when it comes to a death and when we as a soceity lose respect for the dead, I fear for the fabric that binds us together. For instance, the Memorial Wing of the Infirmary has become a derelict shell and the memorial to two little boys who died in Pheasantford Reservoir is being used as an ashtray. Both attract differing camps of opinion from tear it down to let's get Lottery funding for restoration. So making such a little change like replacing a rose with a shrub can have emotive effects on some people. Apart from the fact that flowers carry a secondary although rarely known meaning, the replacement shrub should be chosen with care and consideration.
Personally, I'm utterly convinced that systemic neglect is the root cause of the problem in the first place, as it takes some doing, to kill off a rose bush, as they are amongst some of the toughest plants around the garden.

255.255.255.0 wrote:

badref wrote: For God's sake this has nothing to do with Islam but a council which again was found wanting when it came to effective communication. I'd swear some of you place an alarm to notify you of any opportunity to be racist. I have relatives buried at Pleasington. Frankly they are dead and don't give a stuff so lay off the emotive rubbish. Cemeteries are for those left behind and Pleasington is a lovely, well-cared for site. Please don't blow this out of proportion.

totally agree, it has nothing to do with islam, or culture. What if the roses were left to rot then what.. you would be complaining they not looking after after the roses. What if it was a white man? with all due respect, its a big site to maintain and at least they replaced it with shrubs. It really shows how deep the roots are of the racist, and prejudiced people. just waiting to have a pop at every opportunity. Also shows how uneducated and backward they are.

Sorry you feel that way. I make every effort not to play the racism card and find that frequent references to it on stories on this site are unnecessary and intended to create division and resentment.
However, on this occasion, I asked a Muslim friend about their practices after death and discovered that cremation is not something that they do. I felt that in this situation, the comments made by the Councillor in charge of this aspect of council work were directly relevant and showed a lack of understanding of how other cultures may view the rose garden where the ashes of their relatives were buried.
Your views as to how your dead relatives are treated are exactly that: your views. However, they are not the views of a great many people who have been affected by this and who also have the right to make their feeelings known. As far as these people were concerned, many of whom will spend not inconsiderable amounts of time at this garden, there was nothing perceived to be wrong with the roses which were in situ. Yes, if there had been complaints about them the council would have had a duty to resolve the issue, but this doesn't appear to have been the case: it was an arbitrary decision based on cost effectiveness (however they choose to dress it up) and took no account of the feelings of the people who had been bereaved. Yes, I do believe cultural differences will have affected how the situation was perceived by those making the decisions and whilst we should make allowances for the beliefs and cultures other than our own within our society, the same should also apply to them, especially when they are in positions of responsibility.

Anyone would think graves have been dug up looking at the response at some of the LET bigots on here. All they have done is replaced a few roses with a few shrubs and that is because the roses were not growing properly. What's the issue? Ahhhhhhhhh the councillor had a foreign name!!! Right that's it, because of his name he must be trying to overthrow the monarchy and government let's get our gloves out and put a stop to this now by bashing his religion after all he took this decision himself and would not have gone to the rest of the executive!!

ramjam wrote:
Anyone would think graves have been dug up looking at the response at some of the LET bigots on here. All they have done is replaced a few roses with a few shrubs and that is because the roses were not growing properly. What's the issue? Ahhhhhhhhh the councillor had a foreign name!!! Right that's it, because of his name he must be trying to overthrow the monarchy and government let's get our gloves out and put a stop to this now by bashing his religion after all he took this decision himself and would not have gone to the rest of the executive!!

I don't think it has anything to do with the gentleman concerned being asian...its more his disrespect of christian rituals relating to the preserving of a site where loved ones ashes have been scattered...its is not just a rose garden per say. Some people have scattered ashes there as they couldn't afford to a burial plot. The site for these people represents their loved ones resting place & as such, expect it to be treated with as much respect as a grave.

I feel quite sure that had a similar situation occurred in the asian section of the cemetery, similar posts would have been written...and quite rightly so. All area's for those who have passed on should be shown due respect & consideration.

At the end of the day the Asian community in Blackburn has long since demanded their culture etc be respected/accepted & I think that has happened to a large extent...but that should be a 2 way street, i'm losing count of the number of times Christian culture is not shown due respect by the Asian community.

ramjam wrote:
Anyone would think graves have been dug up looking at the response at some of the LET bigots on here. All they have done is replaced a few roses with a few shrubs and that is because the roses were not growing properly. What's the issue? Ahhhhhhhhh the councillor had a foreign name!!! Right that's it, because of his name he must be trying to overthrow the monarchy and government let's get our gloves out and put a stop to this now by bashing his religion after all he took this decision himself and would not have gone to the rest of the executive!!

@ Ramjan:
Thats precisely the point. As far as some people in this town are concerned, IT IS as if their relatives have been dug up! There were ashes scattered on that ground: it wasn't just a rose garden.
I explained my comments in a post just above yours, which I get the feeling you didn't read properly, so I'm not going to repeat myself.
Firefly, also in repsonse to your rant Ramjan, reinforces the points perfectly.
Have a little consideration for others before you type in future.

ladysal wrote:

ramjam wrote:
Anyone would think graves have been dug up looking at the response at some of the LET bigots on here. All they have done is replaced a few roses with a few shrubs and that is because the roses were not growing properly. What's the issue? Ahhhhhhhhh the councillor had a foreign name!!! Right that's it, because of his name he must be trying to overthrow the monarchy and government let's get our gloves out and put a stop to this now by bashing his religion after all he took this decision himself and would not have gone to the rest of the executive!!

@ Ramjan:
Thats precisely the point. As far as some people in this town are concerned, IT IS as if their relatives have been dug up! There were ashes scattered on that ground: it wasn't just a rose garden.
I explained my comments in a post just above yours, which I get the feeling you didn't read properly, so I'm not going to repeat myself.
Firefly, also in repsonse to your rant Ramjan, reinforces the points perfectly.
Have a little consideration for others before you type in future.

Advisors to the enviromental improvement department must have forwarded their findings quite a while ago and normal procedures would have meant a discussion and an internal agreement. An overwhelming majority to proceed with their plans would have been agreed.
A complete failure on their part if consultation process was not commnunicated with the bereaved and affected prior to commencing work, and a full explanation and response to his actions

It all comes down to poor communication, although I do feel that Councillor Faryad Hussain should perhaps put more thinking time into what he is going to say. People are hurt when their tributes, (no matter in what shape or form they are) are taken away in the blink of an eye.

People would be more tolerant of council actions if only more consideration was given to the relatives of the deceased.