Earlier this year, Council took ownership of 12 hectares of land in Ashley for the purposes of creating a new lawn cemetery to service the Rangiora area.
The land was vested by Ree and Noreen Robertson and their family who have lived and farmed in the area since the early 1900’s.
Council was initially approached by the family in 2019 seeking information regarding the process to allow for the future burial of family members on the family farm. Burials on private land are heavily restricted by the current Burial and Cremations Act 1964.
At the same time Council were preparing a cemetery strategy to look at provision of cemetery land in the district to meet its obligation under the Burial and Cremations Act 1964 to ensure that there is sufficient land available for burials. While there is currently several decades of available space within the current Rangiora Lawn Cemetery, we want to ensure we have long-term provision of burial services in suitable areas for our residents.
Ultimately, we proposed that a section of the farm be developed into a cemetery under Council ownership, with a designated area for the Robertson family.
Waimakariri Mayor Dan Gordon says that the Council is very grateful for the kind donation of land provided by the Robertson family.
“The elevated location, which looks over Rangiora, will in time become an essential piece of community infrastructure as a much-needed resting place for future generations.
Our thanks to the generosity of the Robertson Family for enabling this to happen.”
The cemetery is likely to have a main entrance located on Dixons Road, provision for different burial types, including traditional, ashes, green burials as well as a pet cemetery, an internal road, walking paths and plantings to create different areas within the cemetery, boundary planting of native and exotic plantings, and tree and shrub plantings throughout the cemetery.
As part of the agreement, the land won’t be used by the general public until the Rangiora Lawn Cemetery is full. The pet cemetery is likely to be opened sooner.
A Resource Consent has been granted to Council from Environment Canterbury for the development of a cemetery, and consultation with Ngāi Tūāhuriri and surrounding neighbours has already taken place.