Strict controls expected if burial laws changed

ALONE: This lone grave in a paddock at Mauriceville commemorates the life of Johanna Christiansen, who died in February,1879, aged 34.

A Wairarapa funeral director believes strict criteria would be imposed on family farm and other private land burials should the Government sanction burial and cremation law changes.

Peter Giddens of Richmond Funeral Home in Carterton said he would not expect any change in the law would allow for people to be buried willy-nilly in the countryside.

Rules would be put in place and Mr Giddens believes the law would require that those wanting to be buried on private land would have to apply for permission well in advance of their demise.

He said farm and family burials in pioneering times were common more through necessity than simply a family wish.

"Isolation was often a problem, with families being miles away from the nearest cemetery," he said.

Mr Giddens said even now there were exemptions under existing law that allow for burials on private land but he was sure if the laws were to be relaxed strict criteria would need to be met.

He said funeral directors regularly received requests to have loved ones buried on private land but in most cases "we just can't do it".

The Law Commission is to seek public views on a package of reforms which could lead to far-reaching changes in options available to bereaved families.

These include family farm and other private land proposals, along with the establishment of further eco and natural burial sites, and feedback on whether there is a case for greater control and accountability for cremations and funerals.

The Burial and Cremation Act has remained substantially unchanged since 1964 and many of the act's provisions greatly pre-date that, some reaching back to the Cemeteries Act, passed in 1882.

Ancient graves can be found in isolated pockets outside of public cemeteries in Wairarapa, mostly dating back to the late 1800s or early decades of the 1900s.

Included are the graves of sailors who died when ships came to grief along the rugged Wairarapa coast and the lone grave of a woman in Mauriceville West.

The rural district is dotted with small cemeteries, some being Maori urupa, and some being confined to family and extended family plots.

Those gazetted as public cemeteries continue to have loved ones buried there up to the present day.