Burials still on hold

STILL SUSPENDED: High water table levels at the Taruheru Cemetery continue to disrupt normal funeral arrangements in Gisborne with a further suspension notice put in place by Gisborne District Council. Image by Ben Cowper

Options considered as water table level remains high

Burial suspension notices because of the high water table level at Taruheru Cemetery since Cyclone Gabrielle remain in place.

The latest suspension notice was put in place on April 5, and while it expired earlier this week, it has been extended further.

“The council is continually monitoring the ground water levels for Taruheru,” liveable spaces manager De-Arne Sutherland said in an advisory to Evans Funeral Services, which the company has shared with the Herald.

“Unfortunately we were probably overly optimistic that the forecast rain would not amount to much, or might not impact ground water levels at Taruheru to the extent that it has,” Ms Sutherland said.

“The ground water levels are up higher again following the rain we received over the weekend, and we are currently not able to achieve beyond one-metre depth at Taruheru cemetery and therefore cannot proceed with single depth (nor double depth) burials.

“Therefore we will need to extend this latest burial suspension for new burials at single or double depths.”

The funeral company has four caskets in storage pending a lifting of the suspension notice.

Some families have opted to have their loved ones cremated while other burials have been arranged in other cemeteries around the district.

“We are considering the potential of being able to provide for reopening burials at Taruheru, if the depth is less than a single depth, as a way of enabling those families to be able to proceed with burying their loved ones there,” Ms Sutherland said.

“If the council agrees to proceed in this way, this approach would require funeral directors to work very closely with the cemetery team on a case-by-case basis, and with the knowledge that progressing this service would be at risk of proceeding due to a number of factors, including even a minor rain event.

“Also, for your awareness, we could only facilitate one burial per day as the digging would need to occur directly before the service as the ground is very saturated and the walls would be at high risk of collapse,” Ms Sutherland said.

“The team continue to monitor groundwater levels consistently and will continue to keep you updated with how this is tracking.”