Family remain unconvinced by Council plan to prevent future water flooding in Ayr Cemetery
Caroline Sutherland and her sister buried their father Norrie in 2018 and say this year has been 'a nightmare'
South Ayrshire Council say engineers have identified a method which would ensure Ayr and Troon Cemetery Grave chambers are never flooded again, but some families remain unconvinced.
Earlier this year, it was revealed around 126 graves had been damaged by water ingress in Ayr Cemetery, and that the bodies of those buried there were possibly floating in water.
Works to fix the issue commenced at the start of summer 2022, and now council bosses are saying engineers have figured out how to prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future.
A statement from South Ayrshire Council said: “After significant testing, the independent engineers have identified a method which will prevent water from entering the chambers in the future. Works commenced on Monday 15 August to implement those changes. We have shared the process that will be followed with affected families and these documents can be viewed below.
"We understand that this is an extremely distressing time for those families who have been affected and we are doing everything we can to support them. " READ MORE: Families fury over Ayr Cemetery torment
It’s understood that around 20 out of the 126 families affected have denied South Ayrshire Council permission to exhume their loved ones remains, until they have effective and open dialogue, as well as certain guarantees from the local authority.
West FM have been speaking with Caroline Sutherland who is among those 20 families denying the council permission.
In 2018, Caroline and her sister Natalie laid their father Norrie to rest in a way which gave comfort to his memory and their surrounding relatives.
Norrie was buried with his Golf clothes he had visited the US Open in, and his grandchildren buried him with personal tributes and mementos when they lowered his grave.
Caroline told West FM: “ We feel totally let down by this whole situation and it has just been so hard as a family to cope with this ongoing nightmare.
“The communication from South Ayrshire Council hasn’t been good enough. We received the engineers report last week via email.
“After asking for emails all the way through this process this is the first one, we’ve had. The report states that there is low risk of re-occurrence, but it can’t be guaranteed.
“I know for a fact my family and other families cannot go through this again, so the confidence just isn’t there I’m afraid.
She added: “If they can’t guarantee that this is going to work 100% I don’t know what else I can say. It’s going to be hanging over us for the rest of our lives, and be in the back of our minds ‘is he in water again’.
“I understand they are trying everything they can, but that doesn’t promote any confidence for us they way things have been handled so far.”