This petition was submitted during the 2019-2024 parliament
Rejected petition Re-Open Cemeteries during the Coronavirus
My father passed away last year, and we have visited him everyday since the day of the funeral. They have just shut his cemetery today but parks and open spaces remain open, why? Visiting the cemetery does no harm to anyone, it’s the same as going for a run in the park. Please rethink and reopen.
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We use our one hour exercise time to walk to and from the cemetery, therefore we don’t make any other journeys apart from this. It helps myself, my mum and my little brother to cope with his loss and mentally gives us a break.
Shutting the gates has caused us distress and no doubt other families with relatives inside.
It makes no sense to have open spaces and parks still open but shut a quiet and peaceful cemetery. Please reopen.
This petition was rejected
Why was this petition rejected?
We can't publish petitions when the request is something that's already happening or something that has been announced since you started your petition.
We think your petition is covered by Government or Parliament action already. If you'd like something else, you could start a new petition clearly explaining what it is.
Since you started your petition the Government has written to local authorities to make clear that burial grounds and cemeteries may remain open, and that grounds surrounding crematoria may also remain open, including gardens of remembrance: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-to-parks-and-public-spaces-including-burial-grounds-and-cemeteries
Decisions about the opening of particular cemeteries are a matter for individual local authorities, and not the Government or House of Commons.
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/192/the-governments-response-to-coronavirus/
We only reject petitions that don’t meet the petition standards.