The draft concept plan for the restoration of the garden, also known as the Rainbow Cemetery, has received unanimous support from the Waitaki District Council’s community services committee.
Oamaru woman Roseanne Sheridan, who has spearheaded the restoration, asked for support from councillors during the public forum before recent committee meetings. She said the Oamaru Lawn Cemetery’s garden for stillborn babies, or children who died in their infancy, started about 20 years ago "but it needs restoration and preservation".
The concept plan was the result of three years of consultation and planning and the garden itself was multicultural and multireligious in nature. It was, she said, only possible due to the giving nature of the community.
While the council would be asked to contribute to concrete bases for new installations at the garden, and some landscaping, much of the material to be used in the project had been donated by the community, including roses, signs and three stone features.
One of the those was an Oamaru stone sculpture created at the recent Oamaru Stone Symposium by the Waimate carving group at Friendly Bay. The sculpture had been carved at no charge.
"This is the type of generosity we have found with people," she said.
Council recreation manager Erik van der Spek said it was hoped the work would be complete by next October.
