Gisborne cemeteries confirmed to have space for up to 50 years

Gisborne District Council has been told Taruheru Cemetery, which is the final resting place of 93% of Gisborne interments, can continue to operate for another 30 years with "clever designs".

Gisborne District Council cemeteries at Taruheru and Pātūtahi can operate for another 30 years and 50 years respectively “with clever designs”.

In a cemetery planning update to the council’s operations committee, liveable spaces manager Tyler Kirk said there was good news in that the two cemeteries had “a lot more capacity than we thought”.

But land adjacent to Taruheru Cemetery, at 587 Nelson Rd, had “no great potential” because the groundwater was ”particularly high”.

Kirk said the council’s cemetery situation “benchmarked well” compared to other councils.

The council would need to undertake a groundwater investigation of Pātūtahi to “totally confirm” the site would be suitable for further development.

Kirk told councillors they would not have to make an immediate decision on existing cemetery land, or whether to acquire more land.

He suggested 2027 would be a suitable time with the Review of Cemeteries plan within the Community Facilities Strategy.

Kirk’s written report said the council maintained 13 gazetted public cemeteries across 51ha, with the various cemeteries being serviced, unserviced or closed.

Taruheru Cemetery was the location of 93% of council interments.

The report said a capacity review confirmed that:

• Taruheru Cemetery has capacity to meet interment needs through to 2053, once the remaining undeveloped blocks are utilised.
• Pātūtahi Cemetery is only 10% developed and has sufficient space for at least 50 years of interment, pending soil and groundwater analysis.
• Ormond Cemetery is full, but has scope for natural burial development at small scale.
• There is no need for a new site; existing land is sufficient to meet urban interment demand into the second half of the century.

Councillor Rob Telfer asked if the land at 587 Nelson Rd could be sold if it was not fit for purpose as a cemetery.

Kirk said the land was held for “potential future purposes” and was zoned “Heritage”.

The time to consider any sale was probably during a land portfolio review and when the council had made a decision on cemetery land.

Councillor Larry Foster said he was pleased the land at 587 Nelson Rd would not be used as an extension of the cemetery.

The location was known to be an area of high growth, with houses already being built, he said. The Nelson Rd site was prime land and the council should think about the land urgently and not sit on it.