Renfrewshire Council have hit back at criticism of toppling headstones after a protest rally against the practice was arranged. 

The local authority said that staff have been taking action to do so for safety reasons and in line with Scottish Government guidance issued following the tragic death of a child in a Scottish Cemetery.

Ciaran Williamson, aged eight, died after a headstone fell on him while playing with friends at Craigton Cemetery in Cardonald in May 2015.

A fatal accident inquiry determined that Glasgow City Council did not have a memorial inspection system in place and failed to repair a hole in a boundary wall where Ciaran accessed the site with friends.

While headstones are the property of private individuals and reside on council-land, Renfrewshire Council retains the duty of care for safety within cemeteries and churchyards.

A spokesperson for the local authority told the Gazette: "We have a duty of care for safety within our cemeteries and our fully qualified staff have been assessing headstones and carefully lying flat unsafe headstones in line with Scottish Government guidance issued following the tragic death of a child in a Scottish cemetery.

“We understand how emotive it is for families when a headstone has to be laid flat and this is only ever done when it poses a significant risk to safety due to movement or insufficient fixings.

“Unfortunately, it isn’t always possible to reach lair owners before work is carried out and marker notices are placed on memorials and headstones with details for how lair holders can contact the council to ensure their memorial meets the required safety standards.

“There is also signage at each cemetery with the same information.”

The Scottish Government published burial ground memorial safety guidance for local authorities in 2019 and Renfrewshire Council approved its policy following this guidance in January 2020.

Since January 2020, the local authority has been carrying out a programme of inspections on 57,000 lairs across nine cemeteries and 14 churchyards.

According to the local authority, this programme of initial inspections is almost complete.

According to the council, lair holders can use any approved stonemason to carry out work to re-erect the headstone as long as it conforms to the NAMM (National Association of Monumental Masons) standard and they get permission from the council.

Community group Friends of Hawkhead Cemetery (FOHC), however, launched a petition back in May claiming that there are alternative methods of dealing with the issue which “show more respect” for the memory of deceased loved ones.

The petition currently has more than 1,600 signatures and a protest rally was due to take place this morning at Renfrewshire House in Paisley against the practice.

A social media post this week by Desmond Barr, the chair of the group, said: “FOHC fully support the Scottish Government in ensuring that every headstone and memorial structure in cemeteries is safe and well-maintained.

“What FOHC totally reject is Renfrewshire Council’s implementation of the Scottish Government’s guidance by only laying flat headstones.

“They could stake or sink them as other local authorities do, such as East Renfrewshire, East Dunbartonshire and East Ayrshire.

“They could even go so far as to repair the headstones.”