A long-awaited cemetery in central Great Barrier is one step closer to realisation.
Great Barrier Local Board has spent considerable time and resources over the last eight years on this project after residents made it clear that there was a need for cemeteries in the north and centre of the island.
Auckland Council has applied for land use resource consent to establish a public cemetery at Crossroads Reserve in Claris.
Board chair Izzy Fordham said local people had expressed a desire to be buried or remembered in the area close to where they or their loved one had lived.
“It has taken a considerable amount of time to find a suitable piece of council-owned land that meets the criteria for a cemetery and we hope that we have finally found one.”
Fordham said the proposed cemetery would mean a great deal to those who had lost loved ones.
In July 2015 the board obtained authority for cemetery development on the island and in December that year approved investigation of sites in the Okiwi and Claris areas.
Last year, the board agreed to apply for resource consent at the Claris site.
Crossroads Reserve is located along Whangaparapara Road and is opposite the Claris Sports Club, just west of the junction with Blind Bay and Gray Roads and west of Claris.
It is proposed that the cemetery grounds occupy an approximately 600m2 cleared area on an elevated part of the site.
The proposed cemetery includes three types of burial plots:
- 21 coffin burial plots
- 48 ash internments
- 17 eco-burial plots
The next step in the process is for interested parties to have a say.
This is a joint process under the Reserves Act 1977 and the Resource Management Act 1991 (RMA).
Submissions can be received under one or both of the following, as detailed in the notices below:
- The Reserves Act for the reclassification of the site from recreation reserve to a local purpose (cemetery)
- The Resource Management Act for the physical works associated with establishing the cemetery, and for the ongoing cemetery activity to occur on this site.
To find out more or to make a submission on this application, visit http://www.aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/NotifiedResourceConsents
Application number: LUC60334087
Closing date for submissions: 5pm, Friday 22 March, 2019
