Council bids £100 for Glenarm grave that cost 2/6d

Plot number 41 at the cemetery was purchased by a local family back in 1946 for the sum of 2/6d, which in today’s currency is 12.5p. However, the grave was never used, as the family moved away from the area in the 1970s.

And the council has agreed to buy back the plot from the family for £100, which (when not adjusted for inflation) is 80 times its original price.

Minutes from the latest meeting of the policy and resource committee state that the grave papers for the unused plot were discovered recently by the family, who contacted the local authority to see if they could sell it back to them as they had no use for it.

However, the family was initially informed that the council would only buy the plot back at the same price it was sold for – a policy that was put in place to prevent anyone making a profit by buying and selling graves.

The family then asked the local authority to consider a more realistic sum of money, and pointed out that a resident seeking to purchase the same grave now would pay more than £200.

After some discussion and because of the “unique situation”, members resolved to buy the plot back for £100, and added that any other such cases would be dealt with as they came forward.