New funeral home planned for site

Mike Savage of the Legacy Funeral Home.

The Bay of Plenty's Legacy Funerals has bought a 3400sq m site on the corner of Ashley Place and Te Okuroa Drive and will build a new facility to service the growing community in Papamoa East.

The new funeral home was expected to open by October next year, and would include a memorial garden, a 200-seat funeral chapel, and full catering facilities, said Legacy Funerals director Mike Savage.

Legacy currently operates facilities at Tauranga Park on Pyes Pa Rd, and Woodhill on Grange Rd, but performs funerals throughout the Bay.

"We are very excited about playing a greater part in the Papamoa community," said Mr Savage.

Legacy had been looking for suitable land in the area for two to three years, he added.

"You could see the development that was happening in the area. And with the Tauranga Eastern Link coming, we began looking very seriously."

Mr Savage said an initial site was identified on Domain Rd, which didn't come to fruition because the land area wasn't quite right. The site Legacy eventually bought was ideal because it provided high visibility from both sides and was easily accessible from the Tauranga Eastern Link (TEL).

"With the ongoing growth and expansion of the Papamoa region eastwards fuelled by residential subdivisions, commercial developments and completion of the TEL, there is increasing demand for local amenities to support the growing community. We knew there were young families moving into the area as well as retirement homes being established."

Legacy Funerals is one of only a handful of funeral businesses nationwide that operates as a trust, with all profits going back into the community. The company was formerly Gregory Brownlees Woodhill. Mr Brownlees, who had no family to leave the business to, was inspired by his experiences helping out in the aftermath of the 2004 Asian Tsunami, and in 2007 reconfigured the business as Legacy Funerals, with profits supporting the Legacy Trust. Legacy Funerals also owns Todd Gower Funeral Services.

"The unique thing about Legacy is all the profits go back to the community," said Mr Savage. "Our funeral directors have gifted more than $1.6 million to charities, schools, clubs and other worthwhile causes."

Katrina Shanks, chief executive of the New Zealand Funeral Directors Association, said Legacy had the community as the centre of its business.

The funerals business dealt with a growing sector, given the ageing of the population, she said.

"It's a sector that's got a heart. Most funeral homes put grieving families at the centre of all their decision-making. For most funeral directors, it's not just a job for them. You have to have a sense of public service and of empathy and compassion, and want to make a difference to people's lives."

Funeral homes sector

* Approximately 60 per cent of the NZ Funeral Association's membership is smaller owner-operator firms.

* The association's membership performs about 80 per cent of all funerals in New Zealand.

* Australian-owned corporate Bledisloe has some 25 funeral homes throughout New Zealand.