Sudden hike in burial fees in Nambucca Valley to be reconsidered after community anger

Residents are able to reserve a plot in a local cemetery for a fee. But there is then another 'interment right' fee when that person is laid to rest.

Previously, a burial (plot plus interment right) in the Nambucca Valley cost $1430.

The new 2019/20 fees for plot and interment were increased to $2500, after it was suggested by local funeral directors that the $3000 initially proposed was too steep for many locals, at more than double the original cost.

A further estimated $800-$900 is also payable to a gravedigger.

For people who had previously reserved a plot it was recommended that they pay an altered interment fee equal to $2500, minus any previously paid reservation fee, "to simplify the burial fee for reserved grave sites and make it more equitable".

Council's rationale for the increase was to "recover some of the ongoing maintenance and expansion costs and encourage people to opt for interment in columbarium walls to increase the lifespan of council's cemeteries".

Council papers stated that annual maintenance costs for Nambucca Valley cemeteries exceed $50,000.

The changes also were said to bring our fees more in line with those from other council areas.

According to council documents from May last year, burials in Kempsey are the most expensive in our region at $4,450 (gravedigging included), whereas Bellingen's fees are the cheapest at only $1400.50 (gravedigging extra).

Residents with a reserved plot were notified in letters about the changes.

At the most recent council meeting on November 26, Rosemary Porter raised her family's concerns about the increases to fees.

"My parents have had (a plot) for 23 years. They're really upset - very distraught about it," she said.

Council General Manager Michael Coulter said Rosemary's was not the only objection council had heard, with many other locals upset about the sudden increases.

"I share Rosemary's concerns," he said.

"It was a substantial increase and I don't see any issue in council revisiting it."

A motion was moved and passed that "there be a report back to council on the reservation and interment fees and arrangements to relinquish reservations".

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