FORDINGBRIDGE councillors have urged caution over taking on land at the cemetery.

Fordingbridge Town Council has been asked about taking on the title of land at Stuckton Road cemetery from New Forest District Council (NFDC).

A meeting of the town council on January 6 was told the district council had presented a land transfer form to solicitors acting for the town council but no agreement could be found in the minutes or correspondence that the town council had agreed to take it on.

The town council manage the land on behalf of the district council and the meeting heard there could be potential costs if it took the land over and there was need to extend it.

Councillor Malcolm Adams said: “I would be reluctant without a bit more research to find the pluses and minuses of taking it over.”

Deputy mayor Councillor Anna Wilson said: “Although we do get income from them - there is a lot of expenditure coming out as well.”

Councillor Alan Lewendon added: “It is a piece of land that costs us money to maintain.”

Cllr Adams said: “We are taking over a big responsibility and we need to be quite sure what we are taking over.”

Cllr Lewendon agreed and said the town’s population was also expected to increase.

Cllr Wilson said the town council need to know if there would be any extra costs involved, for example with insurance, while Councillor Diane Paton said she could not see any benefits for taking it over.

The town council has also received a request to take on the title to land at Flaxfields End, which housed the town council’s play area equipment.

Cllr Paton said the “fencing was very poor and dilapidated” and questioned if the town council were to take it over if it could be in a “good condition”.

Cllr Wilson asked what NFDC had done with funding allocated for that land.

Mayor, Councillor Edward Hale said there was “no real disadvantage” in the town council taking it over the land at Flaxfields End. The town council agreed to do more research and contact NFDC for more information about the land titles.