Whanganui’s Aramoho Cemetery extension opens with 842 new burial plots

An extension has been made to Aramoho Cemetery to facilitate burials for the next eight years. Photo / NZME

An extension to Whanganui’s Aramoho Cemetery is set to provide burial capacity for the next eight years.

Whanganui District Council has opened Lawn Extension E, which will provide 842 burial plots in addition to 398 existing available plots.

Parks and property manager Tania Henare said the extension was open for burials, with new beams being developed.

“A beam is the concrete strip that marks plot rows and numbers and the area for headstone or plaque placement,” Henare said.

Aramoho Cemetery is the council’s main site for cremations and burials.

In its 2025 annual report, the council said without an extension the cemetery would be full by 2030.

There have been 390 burials over the past three years, including 141 in 2025.

Dempsey & Forrest funeral director James Forrest said the extension was “definitely” required.

“It gives the people of Whanganui comfort to know that if they were to lose a loved one in that period of time, then they will be in that new area at Aramoho,” Forrest said.

The council is developing beams to enable headstones to be installed. Photo / Fin Ocheduszko Brown

The council operates and maintains four other cemeteries at Heads Rd, Brunswick, Matarawa and Pākaraka.

Henare said Brunswick, Matarawa and Pākaraka were small, rural cemeteries.

Pākaraka has about one burial a year and there is capacity for 17 burials, with land available for development.

Brunswick and Matarawa have up to two burials a year, with 25 and 79 available plots, respectively.

Heads Rd Cemetery is one of the oldest public cemeteries in New Zealand, dating back to the 1840s.

It is closed to new burials, although interments may be available for existing family plots, Henare said.

Cremations continue trend upward

There were 477 cremations in Whanganui last year, up 42 from 2024.

Since the beginning of 2023, there have been 1398 cremations, more than three times the number of burials.

Whanganui currently has 1029 available cremation plots.

In 2023, Cleveland Funeral Home director Craig Cleveland said cremations were becoming increasingly popular in Whanganui, with 79% of his funerals in 2022 being cremations.

Forrest said cremation was still “certainly the more popular option for families” in Whanganui.

“A lot of that comes down to more options with the ashes from a cremation; people can have them at home, they can have them scattered on a farm or taken to a cemetery out of Whanganui,” he said.

Taking ashes overseas was another option.

“We looked after a family recently where the ashes were returning to a church graveyard in England.”

Forrest said cremations were cheaper for families in Whanganui where an adult burial plot is $1645 and a cremation plot $820.

There are variations in the prices of burial services depending on the day and time of the week. For the most expensive slot on a Saturday after 1pm, an adult cremation service is $265 cheaper than opting for a burial.

For children under 15 years, pre-term and stillborn babies, burial and cremation services are free.

The council has provided free services for children for about 20 years.

Fin Ocheduszko Brown is a multimedia journalist based in Whanganui.