Cromwell Cemetery as it is now has five years left before it runs out of burial space.
The Cromwell Community Board addressed that issue at a meeting on Tuesday, at which it approved the Cromwell Cemetery Development Plan 2021 and set aside land as local purpose cemetery reserve to future-proof the cemetery for the next 100 years.
In a report, Central Otago District Council parks officer Marie Gordon said based on an average of 21 burials per year and the 105 empty burial and ashes plots available, the proposed plan needed to be implemented within five years.
Based on burial trends, forecast population growth and changing demographics, it was estimated that the cemetery, which was established in 1879, would need to provide for about 2100 burials over the next 100 years.
Development of the Cemetery Rd land would be staged to meet that demand.
Stage one was the remaining burial and ashes plots in the existing cemetery, and stages two to four would eventually allow for 1122 burial plots, 790 plots for ashes, a new access road, a loop road through the cemetery and for tree plantings.
Stage five would allow for a crematorium, chapel, garden and parking.
Factoring a crematorium into the concept ensured land requirements were future-proofed to accommodate growth in demand for the service but was not a commitment to provide the service.
The district’s only crematorium, in Alexandra, was privately owned and run.
Board member Werner Murray opposed the proposed expansion.
Classifying all of the land earmarked as cemetery reserve restricted options in terms of allowing business such as a private crematorium, he said.
He also believed exploring an alternative site for burials should be an option due to the increase in industrial use of land next to the cemetery.
The rapid growth of encroaching industrial development and the associated noise could make it "quite a nasty spot" for quiet graveside services, he said.
Board chairwoman Anna Harrison said because the cemetery would remain under the board’s "umbrella", it had scope to reverse the reserve status.
Council parks and recreation manager Gordon Bailey said councils preferred to leave the running of crematoriums to commercial operators.
