'It’s a real eyesore' - Concerns raised over cemetery lake (From Haringey Independent)

Concerns raised over lake at Tottenham Cemetery in White Hart Lane

9:37am Tuesday 19th March 2013 in News By Bruce Thain

It should be a place of contemplation and beauty, but thick sludge now fills this lake in a Haringey graveyard.

The lake at Tottenham Cemetery, in White Hart Lane, has been left to fill with a thick silt which has left it unable to support fish.

The lake - part of a conservation area - is operated by Dignity Plc, which took over the running of the cemetery from Haringey Borough Council last year.

But John Robinson, of Bruce Castle Road, is appalled at the sight that greets mourners and nature lovers.

He said: “The lake has just been left to fill up with silt and now it has just been ruined.

“It will be devastating for the wildlife on the islands in the park and it must be quite distressing for the people who have memorials next to the lake.

“It’s a real eyesore with all the rubbish which is floating on the top of the mud.”

The cemetery opened in 1858 and covers 62 acres in White Hart Lane, but contains some graves and tombs that are more than 400 years old and are some of the oldest in London.

A Dignity Plc spokesman explained that the company was part of the way through a two-year project that will include new reed beds and a new wildlife habitat.

He said a survey of the lake revealed it to be heavily silted up and "unsustainable" as a healthy body of water.

But after fish were removed and the lake drained, silt levels were even higher than had been estimated.

Dignity plans to plant new reed beds over the next year and a half which it hopes will create a new habitat for wildlife.

The spokesman added: “We understand the need to maintain the cemetery to a high standard so residents and visitors can continue to enjoy the open spaces as a public amenity."

“We are only part way through the works, which will take up to two years to be completed and therefore, what is visible now will not be the end result.”