Source: Auckland Council
You can now have your say on proposed updates to Auckland Council’s Cemetery and Crematoria Bylaw. These changes follow a statutory review of the bylaw and will not impact the day-to-day running of Auckland’s public cemeteries.
Auckland Council looks after more than 50 cemeteries in Tāmaki Makaurau, including North Shore Memorial Park, Waikumete Cemetery and Manukau Memorial Gardens. Each offers a peaceful place to honour and remember loved ones, while catering to the customs and traditions of the diverse communities of Tāmaki Makaurau.
Councillor Josephine Bartley, chair of the Regulatory and Safety Committee explains a bylaw is one tool the council uses to help keep public cemeteries and crematoria safe and serving Aucklanders effectively.
“Our cemeteries are special places, and they deserve to be treated with care and respect. That’s why we have a bylaw in place and a dedicated, thoughtful team managing them,” she says.
The Cemeteries and Crematoria Bylaw sets out how our cemeteries operate on a daily basis, taking into consideration the cultural, physical and social needs of those who use them. It is supported by a code of practice.
Like all bylaws, there is a legal requirement to review it every few years to ensure it continues to work for Aucklanders.
Following our statutory review, council staff recommend keeping the rules we have now. This means there are no changes proposed to how Auckland’s cemeteries run on a day-to-day basis, and no change to the rules for Aucklanders.
However, the review found some duplicated and outdated information in the code of practice. To make the bylaw clearer and easier to understand, we propose to move most rules in the code of practice to the bylaw, so they are in one place.
These proposed changes will not impact the rules for Aucklanders, they will just tidy up the bylaw so it is clearer. Changes like this can only be made through a statutory review of the bylaw.
“Council staff carried out the legally required review of this bylaw in 2024 and found it to be working well. Therefore, we propose for the rules to stay the same,” says Cr Bartley.
“While the changes being proposed are administrative, we want to hear from Aucklanders whenever we make changes to our bylaws – no matter how small. It’s important these local rules work for our communities, and now is the perfect time to share your thoughts if this matters to you” she says.
You can have your say on the proposed changes to the Cemeteries and Crematoria Bylaw on the Have Your Say website. The consultation closes on Sunday 23 February.
