Families devastated by Sunderland memorial bench renewal fees

Lesley Logan (right) and her daughter Gemma Watson regularly visit their bench overlooking Roker beach

Families with memorial benches on the Sunderland coast say they are devastated by renewal costs.

They paid about £2,500 for the benches to be installed at Roker 10 years ago but will now have to pay more than £3,000 for another decade.

Failure to pay will see the seats made available for other people to "sponsor", Sunderland Council said.

The authority, which maintains the benches, said the new fees reflected "rising costs".

The council charges £3,170 for a 10-year memorial seat or £1,300 for five years which covers the cost of buying and installing the bench as well as maintenance.

Families said as they had paid for the bench already, they could not understand why it would cost so much to renew their tenures.

Lesley Logan and Gemma Watson said they chose the bench's spot because of its importance to the family

Lesley Logan said she was told she would only have to pay a "nominal fee" when the 10-year term of bench for her parents Matthew and Kathleen Laing ran out.

But she had been quoted the full charges which she said she could not afford.

Ms Logan, who now lives in Brampton, Cumbria, said the bench was the place she and her family came to remember her parents as it overlooked Roker Beach where they spent many happy years.

She said they did not want to be remembered in a cemetery and the spot was very important to the family, adding: "It's more than just a bench to us."

The bench is in memory to Lesley Logan's parents

She said she had been contacted by dozens of other families in similar situations and said it was devastating and disgusting.

Ms Logan also criticised the council's demands that no flowers be left on benches, adding: "It looks so sad without flowers and there is still plenty of space for people to sit down."

Ms Logan's daughter Gemma Watson said as a seaside spot the council would have put benches there anyway, but they had used grieving families to cover the cost and were now being "greedy" for more.

Lyndsey Bewick, who has a bench for her grandmother Barbara Richardson, said her family was never told it was a 10-year agreement when they installed it a decade ago.

"If we had we might not have gone ahead with it, or at least we would have known and then not be shocked when this happened," she said, adding: "I really don't know what we are going to do now."

Josh Bewick said the council was disrespecting families

Her son Josh Bewick said the council's demands showed "how much respect" the authority had for "residents and the community".

Linda Townes paid £2,500 for a bench for her husband of 45 years Ken in 2013 on the clifftop path they walked on every day.

She said it was a place of "comfort" and to "reminisce" and she was very upset after being told she would have to pay again.

She said she asked if she could pay in instalments but was told no, she had a month to find the full amount.

Linda Townes got a bench for her husband of 45 years Ken

Her son-in-law Andrew Bailey said the correspondence with the council had shown "no empathy" with people and treated the benches like a business deal.

He also questioned the quality of the maintenance with a number of benches showing signs of wear and decay.

A council spokesman said the 10-year fee covered the supply of the bench, plaque and inscriptions, installation and maintenance which, under the terms agreed by Ms Logan and others about 10 years ago, worked out at a weekly cost of £5.

'Heartfelt gesture'

He said the fees were set annually and the 2023 amount "reflects rising costs".

He said maintenance included annual painting, varnishing or oiling and the benches were for "public use".

The council said banning bouquets and ornaments kept the benches "free for sitting on" and would "prevent any objects or flowers being removed, stolen, lost, or simply blown away.

"As a highly sought-after location for memorial benches, it's important that we work together to keep the benches, and the surroundings clean and as free from litter as possible," he said, adding the authority understood the "heartfelt gesture" of floral tributes but they could cause damage and "look unsightly and become litter" as they deteriorated.