Wigan Council plans memorial woodland for Covid-19 victims

He said the town hall wants to plant a green space for reflection and remembering those who have been lost during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The search is now under way for a suitable site in the borough where the woodland could be created.

Coun Molyneux said it is important to have a permanent location paying tribute to those who lost their lives with Covid-19.

He said: “We want to make sure we’ve got somewhere in the borough for a community memorial woodland and are looking for a location.

“It’s for everyone who has lost their lives during this pandemic.

“We think there should be a memorial woodland where people can go and think about their loved ones they have lost.

“We are looking for a site which is accessible to all and we think it’s important to have a lasting memorial which will be there for years and years to come.”

The memorial woodland sits alongside the ambitious tree-planting strategy to mitigate climate change which the council is working on in partnership with City of Trees.

Last month the town hall said it wanted to plant 34,000 trees across the borough in the next few months.

The council’s most recent weekly coronavirus tracker shows there have been 976 deaths in Wigan registered with Covid-19 on the certificate as of March 5.

Of those, 13 per cent have occurred in care homes, with 81 per cent in hospital.

There were six deaths mentioning Covid-19 in the borough in the most recent week of figures.

Residents have been urged throughout the pandemic to remember the human tragedy behind the Covid-19 statistics, with relatives and friends grieving for every individual person who has died.

The council says it is hoping to move fairly quickly on the memorial woodland once the right spot for the site of reflection and consolation has been found.

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