A council has confirmed it has refused to reinstate a memorial to three local men due to a change in policy it brought around five years after the benches were installed.

In response to a report in last week’s Chronicle about a mother’s battle with Monmouthshire Council to secure the return of her son’s memorial bench, the authority said it believed there was a “real risk” that parks become “cluttered with furniture of varying design and quality.”

Mandy Welch, whose son, Damion, passed away in 2021, has had a memorial bench alongside tributes to friends, Nathan and Weddy, since 2022. But when they were taken into storage for essential work to be taken out in Linda Vista Gardens, the council wrote to the families to tell them they did not intend to reinstate the memorials they had fundraised for and maintained themselves.

In 2022, Monmouthshire Council told the families that they had no intention of removing the benches despite the fact they had received complaints they weren’t made of recycled materials. However, a change in council policy has prompted them to offer to return the benches to the families instead of reinstating them.

“On reviewing how to manage memorials, we identified existing processes in place for cemeteries and countryside sites but not for our urban public parks and open spaces,” a council spokesperson said.

“The introduction of this policy brings some consistency to allow us to manage these requests and resolve some existing complaints fairly and proportionately.”

“There is a real risk that parks become cluttered with furniture of varying design and quality. There is also an issue of liability for such items.”

Monmouthshire Council also said it would not have granted permission for the benches to be installed had it been sought now, despite the fact there has been a memorial of some kind in the area for five years.

The council maintained the offer of replacing the memorial with a new bench and plaque still stands, but that it would be compliant with their new policy.