In response to the recent controversy over St Alfege Park, the Friends of St Alfege Park have issued the following statement:

There has been much public outrage at the recent destruction of gravestones in St Alfege Park. The Friends of the Park greatly regret our part in this distressing occurrence. While writing this statement we have been unable to contact the Chair of the Friends group, who had been working with a Community Payback team on a project in that area. He is out of the country and is due back on Thursday, 29 September.

In the Chair’s absence, the Friends have sought to investigate events and we believe the following to be an accurate account.

In the process of tidying a neglected area of the park, the Community Payback team were asked to remove nettles and other plants that had invaded the ground and adjoining gravestones along a short stretch of perimeter wall at the east end of the park. The Friends have been working in that area to establish one of 2012 community gardening areas in London for the year 2012, with the help of grants from Greenwich Pride and Capital Growth. The site was agreed on in consultation with Parks and Open Spaces.

We believe that the intention was to move any stones that had to be disturbed to a storage area in front of the Old Mortuary building, and that when some were damaged by attempts to remove the plants it proved impossible to carry them and they were broken up. In the event, and for reasons we do not know, they were all broken up.

We greatly regret this, and we hope to work with the Council and local community to look at appropriate ways to reuse the broken stones, for example, by creating a memorial garden.

Although each of these 25 or 30 stones is a part of the history of Greenwich, well over 400 similar gravestones are similarly propped against the parks perimeter walls. We consider that they are all important and of great local interest, though many of those remaining are also illegible and crumbling and they no longer mark actual graves, having been moved from their original positions decades ago.

We hope that Greenwich residents will remember how hard the Friends have worked in the park since the group of local volunteers was set up in 2009, including introducing nest-boxes and regular feeding for small birds, planting more than 100 trees and bushes, taking part in the RSPB big garden birdwatch, introducing new picnic tables, installing new name plaques, holding regular working mornings and running various events including Parksfest 2010 and 2011 and will understand that we, too, are distressed at what has happened.

Suzanne Miller and Johanna Taylor, Friends of St Alfege Park

GREENWICH Council says it is “appalled” at the destruction of headstones in St Alfege Park.

The decision to remove and smash to pieces some of the headstones in the park, first reported by Greenwich.co.uk last Friday, has caused local outrage and even been reported on in today’s Daily Mirror and Evening Standard.

It has also been revealed that the council took emergency legal measures to prevent any further action taking place in the park.

A Greenwich Council spokesperson said:

“Greenwich Council is appalled by what has happened in St Alfege Park and we understand how this will cause distress to a great number of people.

“Without the Council’s prior knowledge, the local Friends of Park group instructed a Community Payback team to break and move a number of headstones in St Alfege Park. No graves were affected. As the Council was unable to reach anyone in authority to cease the activity, it issued a legal notice to prevent the group carrying out further works.

“The Council is looking to create an appropriate setting for the headstones.”

The cabinet member responsible for parks, Councillor John Fahy, tweeted on Monday night, “Friends of St Alfege Park have seriously damaged their credibility. Breaking up these historic Headstones simply pure vandalism.”

A statement from the Friends of St Alfege Park is expected later this week.