The Land Swap

One element of this plan which is a little confusing is the proposed land swap which consists of a 5 meter strip of land on the boundary with the cemetery. Apparently some members of the burial committee met with the land owner at the field in question a couple of days ago to mark out their side of the deal. Markers were placed and everyone was apparently handshakes and smiles after the meeting which presumably means the burial board are going to support the plan as they feel they can get another row of Ellesmere residents (i.e) you and me into this strip. Its straight from Faust, or for the younger generation, The Simpsons episode where Homer sold his soul to the devil for a doughnut. In supporting this plan and accepting a 5 meter strip it ends once and for the debate over how to extend the Cemetery as there will be 22 houses in the way.

The curious thing is though it seems this strip of land has already been promised to someone else as the town council, according to the SAMDEV plan have decided to support the application on the basis that the strip of land in question goes to them for use as a footpath! Now I can pick holes in that idea till the cows come home because there is already access to the mere park at the bottom of the hill on both sides and nowhere to park in-between so in order to use the proposed path you would already have had to walk past one.

Surely you cannot use a strip of land 5 meters wide for both burial and as a footpath its just not that wide given the cemetery would need at least 4 meters for a plot with access to maintain it. This surely means that either the "doughnut" has been promised to both committees or the SAMDEV is wrong because the burial committee certainly looked like they knew what they had been promised.