DCC advertising to attract private crematorium lessee

The Dunedin City Council is calling for expressions of interest as it seeks a private operator to take over the Andersons Bay crematorium.

The council in June indicated its intention to get out of the business of running a crematorium by finding a private operator to run its facility.

That was aimed to avoid a possible 50% drop in income once a rival Hope and Sons facility was built in Mosgiel.

The first calls for expressions of interest came two weeks ago, and council parks and recreation services project manager Hamish Black said the process would continue until March next year.

No expressions of interest had yet been received, but any private operator's proposal was not expected until towards the end of the process, he said.

He said he was hoping for a ''high standard'' of applications from potential operators.

The process came about after councillors in June decided to lease the facility to a private operator, ending its monopoly in providing cremation services in Dunedin.

At the time, a council staff report warned Hope and Sons' plan for a new crematorium at Mosgiel could cut revenue at the council's facility by up to 50%.

That would force the council to raise fees at its facility by up to 30%, or increase rates, to cover the drop, the report warned.

Hope and Sons had previously wanted to buy the Andersons Bay crematorium, but the council in 2012 ruled out selling it.

Mayor Dave Cull, speaking in June, said that was because the council did not want to hand its monopoly to a private operator.

Now, with Hope and Sons planning to build its own, ''the situation has changed'', he said.