“We do with the means we have”: the maintenance of cemeteries, a headache for small Marnese communities on All Saints’ Day

Maintenance of cemeteries. A subject almost “daily and sensitive“for elected officials from small rural communities in the Marne. In particular, because the cemeteries are often in the center of the villages, near the church and the town hall,”the slightest weed may be subject to reporting“, explains Eric Krezel, vice-president of the association of rural mayors of France, regional referent for the Grand Est. A subject all the more sensitive to All Saints' Day, a period of contemplation and memory. Latest example in Marne , in Isles-sur-Suippe, where an online petition was launched to warn about the state of the cemetery.

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“We do it with the means we have”

An interview that is not very obvious for municipalities that “do not have the means” according to Eric Krezel. Even less since the abolition of the housing tax, and since the ban on the use of herbicides, which makes the maintenance of cemeteries much longer. However, small communities often only have a single agent to take care of all the green spaces, who does not always have time to do everything.

So some municipalities try to find alternative solutions, such as organizing maintenance actions with local residents. This was the case in Heutrégiville, a few days before All Saints’ Day. A handful of residents, accompanied by the mayor and the first deputy, rolled up their sleeves.

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As a reminder, only the condition of walls, paths and the water supply are the responsibility of the municipalities. The graves are the responsibility of the families. Legislation that is sometimes forgotten, or not always easy to implement. Indeed, today, more and more workers are moving far from the town where their loved ones are buried, and do not always have the opportunity to come and clean the grave regularly.

“Today, I have more than 80 graves per year”

This is why in recent years, more and more private companies have been offering a grave cleaning service. This is the case for the company Flower to Flower in Champigny near Reims. This florist and his wife started cleaning graves 5 years ago, alongside their business.

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