Burials delayed again at Taruheru cemetery

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Burials at the Taruheru cemetery are again an issue in the wake of the heavy rain at the weekend and its impact on water table levels.

Gisborne District Council advised Evans Funeral Services yesterday that burials at Taruheru have been partially suspended again until June 30.

The closure also applies to several rural cemeteries.

This follows the lengthy shutdown of the cemetery after Cyclone Gabrielle.

Interments were put on hold for close to two months and Evans Funeral Services had several caskets in storage pending burial over that period of time.

“Once the watertable dropped a bit there were some burials possible towards the end of that period,” a spokesman for Evans Funeral Services said.

“The situation had been back to normal for about a month prior to the recent heavy rain.”

The council said in a letter to the company yesterday that the current 10-day suspension period would “highly likely” be extended, with more rain forecast in the coming days.

The letter states that the Tolaga Bay, Patutahi and Matawai cemeteries were also included in the suspension notice.

“The Tairāwhiti region has received significant rainfall this month, and on the back of Cyclone Gabrielle water levels have not yet returned to normal,” the council states in the letter.

”As a result we are experiencing very high ground water levels at Taruheru, Tolaga Bay, Patutahi and Matawai cemeteries.

‘”Burial services can continue at Taruheru in Block 31 only.

“Ash interments can also proceed at Taruheru.

“The suspension at Taruheru applies to all other single and double depth burials, including re-opens, based on advice from our science and cemetery teams.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause for our community whanau and funeral director operators,” the council said.

The Evans Funeral Services spokesman said they still have people awaiting burial from when Taruheru was closed earlier.

“That’s because they wanted to be buried extra deep,” he said.

“We anticipate this latest closure will cause further distress for families.”