Council will also look at eco-friendly remembrance events such as “bubble stations”
Ormeau Park(Image: Belfast Live)
City Hall is to look at designated memorial spaces in all council-owned Belfast parks, as well as eco-friendly remembrance events.
An Alliance Party proposal has been passed to explore the possibility of designated memorial spaces in all public parks in the city, and to look at encouraging environmentally friendly forms of remembrance events, such as kite festivals or bubble stations, and enhancing council support for grieving families.
The motion, by Alliance Councillor Christine Bower, was ratified at the June meeting of the full Belfast City Council council, held this week at City Hall.
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The motion states the council “recognises the profound importance of public acts of remembrance for people grieving for friends and family members across Belfast” and “wishes to support those who have experienced loss and encourage safe and environmentally friendly acts of public remembrance within its spaces”.
Elected representatives commissioned officers to bring back a report exploring the implementation of designated memorial spaces in all council-owned Belfast parks. The report will consider environmentally friendly ways for remembrance events, including “ascent” style events, such as permanent or bookable bubble stations, kite festivals, and native butterfly releases.
The report will also look at other support the council can give to grieving families, including the development of a downloadable remembrance guide that could suggest ideas for eco-friendly ways to mark loss, both at a personal or public level.
Bubble remembrance stations are designated outdoor areas or memorial displays where mourners gather to blow bubbles. Often used during funerals and community memorial events its supporters see it as an eco-friendly and peaceful alternative to balloon releases. A kite festival for remembrance is an event where people fly kites to honour, memorialize, or send messages to loved ones who have passed away.
Councillor Bower said after the meeting: “At the heart of this proposal is a very simple, human reality that grief is universal, and how we choose to mark our loss in public spaces matters.
“I want us to be able to assist those families experiencing loss to the absolute best of our ability, in a way which recognises the responsibility we have to our environment and local wildlife to find more sustainable ways of carrying out the remembrance events which will often be at the heart of their grieving process.
“By agreeing to this motion, we are asking our officers to take these ideas away, research them, and report back on what is feasible. We’re completely open to suggestions and are open-minded about what these events should look like.
“Crucially, this motion is about addressing this issue sensitively and providing support to those experiencing loss. I’m glad other parties could get behind the proposal and I’m looking forward to seeing what meaningful, compassionate measures can be put in place.”
Last December elected members agreed for a paper to be produced after a motion forwarded by the Alliance Party’s Michael Long, looking at a possible introduction of sustainable or “natural” burials in woodland or meadow areas owned by the council.
There are over 270 natural burial sites in England alone, with the first opening in Carlisle cemetery in 1993. They can be less expensive than traditional burial due to avoiding extras such as embalming, elaborate coffins or even headstones.
The council agreed to “explore the feasibility of providing sustainable burial options within existing or new cemeteries, including the designation of natural burial grounds or woodland burial areas within our district.”
Elected members also asked officials to provide an update report on any identified legislative, planning, infrastructural, or regulatory barriers “that may impact the delivery of these sustainable end-of-life options locally.” The report has not yet been returned to the committee.
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