Aberdeen’s Seaton Park has been left resembling “a graveyard” as more and more people flout council rules by surrounding memorial trees with mementoes.
The volunteers who look after the award-winning expanse beside the River Don say the “sensitive” situation has left many visitors distressed.
It comes almost a year after Aberdeen City Council launched a clampdown banning tributes to lost loved ones across all local parks.
Strict rules were formed to stop visitors from leaving behind memorials including plaques, vases, ornaments and plastic flowers.
But 10 months on, Seaton Park regulars say the number of tributes left there is getting out of control.
And now they are calling on the council to come up with solutions…
‘Plastic cherub’ tributes make Seaton Park ‘look like cemetery’
Lekky Shepherd was arriving at the Old Aberdeen park via the main Don Street entrance recently when she was disappointed to see a prominent new tribute.
On her way to pick daffodils for a display at a fundraising cake sale, she said her “heart sank” at the latest addition – which has “triggered” the calls for action.
Outlining her concerns at an Old Aberdeen Community Council meeting this week, she stressed that volunteers understand how emotive the topic is.
Lekky said: “A concern we have had for some time is the proliferation of memorial trees in the park which are surrounded by wreaths, flowers, plaques and even plastic cherubs at their bases.
“Unfortunately a recent one is the first thing you see at the entrance to the park.
“After recent guidelines were introduced, such offerings shouldn’t be left, but trees continue to be adorned with these things.”
‘Visitors are concerned and depressed’
The community stalwart added: “Increasingly, visitors to the park have been concerned, depressed and put off by these memorials.
“Areas are starting to look like a graveyard, where families should be able to play happily without being upset.
“And we know Seaton Park is not alone in this…”
Community council chairman David Craik agreed: “I go around with the dogs almost every day and the amount of trees, plaques and plastic flowers lying there is not appropriate.”
The meeting heard that council workers have even faced “abuse” for removing these “unauthorised” tributes.
So what can be done about Seaton Park tributes problem?
Lekky said she “fully understood” the need for people to have a physical place of remembrance in an “increasingly secular” world.
Just weeks ago, developers behind plans for a new crematorium near Inverurie explained that more people are now favouring cremation over burial.
This shift in society, Old Aberdeen Community Council heard, could be the root of the problem.
“People have a need for some sort of place to memorialise their loved ones, if they do not have a grave as a focus,” Lekky said.
“But public parks are not the place for it.
“We understand people’s feelings, it’s very very hard. It’s a sensitive issue.”
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‘It really needs to be addressed’
The Seaton Park volunteer is now appealing for the council to “recognise the need” for a “separate space” in the city for people to remember their lost loved ones.
“Trees could be planted here, and memorials left behind,” she suggested.
“It’s something that really needs to be addressed.”
What does the council say?
The park policy introduced last year had a particular focus on tributes left on memorial benches, as they could deter people from sitting on them.
George Street and Harbour councillor Michael Hutchison, who was at the recent meeting, pledged to “sound out a few colleagues” about the idea.
The council was approached for comment.
You can learn more about Old Aberdeen Community Council here.
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