Natural burials touted for Clareville cemetery

Rebekah Burgess
Natural burials, though little is known about them in New Zealand, will soon be offered in provincial Wairarapa.
Discussions about bodies and burials began last year, with the lobbying of David Yerex, who wrote to Carterton District Council requesting they look into natural burial forests. However, long-term Clareville Cemetery sexton Brian James expects the uptake of such an option, when a body is not embalmed, will be low in a conservative place such as Carterton.
Such a practice of not embalming could place restrictions on things such as home viewing of bodies and delaying of funerals to allow family members to arrive, Richmond Funeral Home and Chapel funeral director Peter Giddens said.
"There's no law that states a body must be embalmed but there is certainly a law that states a body cannot be a health hazard if a body becomes a health hazard then that becomes a problem," he said.
The practice of natural burial forests, where a tree is planted over the site where a person is buried, is practised more in countries such as Great Britain and America where populations are bigger, Brian McWilliams, community and recreation services manager, said.
When he was first approached about natural burials, he had little knowledge about the practice and asked the submitters whether bodies were interned wrapped in a muslin cloth. "They were quite vague themselves because it's a new concept, a relatively new concept in New Zealand," he said.
While offering a natural burial forest would be inappropriate for such a small place like Carterton because of the time it would take to fill up the area, offering a natural burial could be done already, he said.
Two places in New Zealand already offer natural burial areas, including Waikumete Cemetery in Waitakere City, touted on the council's website as the largest cemetery in the country.
Part of the attraction of natural burials is the environmental aspect, Mr McWilliams said, because the process also includes being interned in a pine coffin, to minimise the risk of glues leeching from other materials used.
Waitakere City is an area known for its commitment to the environment, yet has had just eight natural burials since 1999, despite having a population of 18,600 people and averaging 50 to 70 burials and cremations a week.
Mr McWilliams said he expects uptake of being buried naturally to be low in a place like Carterton, with just 7180 people and an average of 50 burials and cremations a year. "If you were going to try and start up a natural burial forest, how many people are going to want to go down a natural burial route? We don't have the numbers."
However, plans to landscape the cemetery land are in the pipeline an area of 15.7ha of which approximately 25 per cent is taken up by graves and he will work a natural burial area into the plans to allow people the choice.
"Carterton is certainly in a position that we can do it because we have prime land we have lots of land," he said, gesturing towards the bare land, incorporating a few trees and a wetland area.
Part of the landscaping will include planting of totara trees in mid- 2008, with an area set aside for natural burials along the fenceline.