Scattering ashes in our parks and open spaces

Scattering someone's ashes can be a great way to honour their memory and celebrate their life. One of the important decisions to make is where to scatter your loved one's ashes. 

We know that our parks and open spaces can become a much-loved part of people's lives, and that family and friends may wish to scatter ashes on land owned by the council.  

Public spaces are for everyone to enjoy so as long as the act of scattering the ashes is discreet and in private and does not upset the enjoyment of other people using our facilities, we do not object to this. Prior permission is not required however we do ask that other visitors cannot see any visual presence of ashes and that scattering is done within environmental guidelines. 

We hope that you understand we will need to continue to maintain and make changes to our parks and land, including where ashes are present now and in the future and so it is important that you take this into consideration when deciding where to scatter your loved one's ashes.

We have produced the following guidelines to help ensure that your chosen space continues to thrive naturally and be a beautiful resting place. We ask that you please:

• scatter thinly over a wide area away from main pathways
• do not mark the ground in any way, e.g. with flowers, crosses or large stones. We need to ensure that our parks and opens spaces remain open and accessible to everyone, so we do not allow the creation or installation of memorials to mark the location of scattered ashes. Any such items will be removed by the council
• do not plant any bulbs, flowers or trees
• choose a quiet moment when fewer people are likely to be around 
• scatter ashes in a place that does not affect the environment. Unfortunately, ashes can change the soil chemistry and damage its fragile balance, which is why we respectfully ask that ashes are not scattered in ancient woodland or directly under any ancient trees.