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Wednesday <strong>December</strong> <strong>21</strong> <strong>2016</strong><br />
BAY HARBOUR<br />
PAGE 3<br />
News<br />
Residents fear losing burial plots<br />
• By Annabelle Dick<br />
AKAROA RESIDENTS fear<br />
they won’t be able to be buried<br />
in their home town as<br />
newly-added cemetery plots<br />
can’t be reserved.<br />
Last month, the city council<br />
added 39 burial plots to the Anglican,<br />
Catholic and Dissenters<br />
cemeteries after years of pressure<br />
from residents saying there<br />
wasn’t enough.<br />
But the plots aren’t available<br />
for pre-purchase and long-time<br />
residents are worried that anyone<br />
throughout New Zealand<br />
can be buried there.<br />
“People have come to Akaroa<br />
and said: ‘Oh this is fabulous,<br />
when I die this is where I want<br />
to go’. You go the<br />
cemetery and you<br />
have no idea who<br />
three-quarters of<br />
the people are –<br />
even the recent<br />
ones,” resident Judy<br />
Warner said.<br />
Ms Warner and her partner<br />
Bernie Reid want to be laid to<br />
rest in the township but she’s<br />
worried there won’t be plots<br />
when they pass away.<br />
“My partner is 82. He was<br />
born here, lived here, worked<br />
here and he’s done a lot of community<br />
work. I think it would be<br />
FULL: Akaroa residents are worried they won’t be laid to rest in the township’s few burial plots<br />
available as out-of-towners have taken a liking to the area.<br />
terrible for us to have to scatter<br />
his ashes and there’s no recognition<br />
that he even lived here,” she<br />
said.<br />
City council head of parks<br />
Andrew Rutledge (left) said it’s<br />
not possible to reserve the new<br />
plots and there won’t be any<br />
preferential treatment for plot<br />
purchase.<br />
“The difficulty here is who<br />
would qualify – permanent<br />
residents or non-resident landowners<br />
who may have a longer<br />
association with Akaroa,” Mr<br />
Rutledge said.<br />
City council staff have been<br />
advising residents to bury their<br />
loved ones at Duvauchelle or<br />
Le Bons cemeteries due to the<br />
shortage.<br />
Once the new plots are filled,<br />
it’s likely people will be referred<br />
to out-of-town cemeteries<br />
again.<br />
“Eventually it is anticipated<br />
that all Akaroa burials and<br />
ash interments will need to be<br />
redirected to the Duvauchelle<br />
Cemetery,” city council neighbourhood<br />
and sports parks<br />
operations manager Al Hardy<br />
said.<br />
Ms Warner said she’s been<br />
in Akaroa for 50 years and<br />
doesn’t want to be laid to rest<br />
anywhere else.<br />
“We’ve got to have something<br />
that recognises the people of<br />
Akaroa,” she said.<br />
Banks Peninsula Community<br />
Board member Janis Haley is<br />
trying to get a memorial wall<br />
and more plots added.<br />
The city council is considering<br />
options for Akaroa and investigations<br />
will continue in the new<br />
year.<br />
•HAVE YOUR SAY:<br />
Should Akaroa locals get<br />
preferential treatment over<br />
burial plots? Email your<br />
views to annabelle.dick@<br />
starmedia.kiwi<br />
In Brief<br />
CHARGE STATIONS FOR CARS<br />
Akaroa now has two of its own<br />
electric vehicle charging stations.<br />
The city council and electricity<br />
network company Orion opened<br />
the station on Rue Brittan<br />
yesterday afternoon. It’s one of<br />
several to be installed in Banks<br />
Peninsula as a free charging<br />
station was put in place adjacent<br />
to the Little River Cafe & Store<br />
and last month. The Little River<br />
station is free to use until the<br />
end of January and users will<br />
have to pay about $10 to use it<br />
from February onwards. Orion<br />
is planning to roll-out more<br />
chargers across Canterbury in the<br />
next few months.<br />
CYCLEWAY CONSULTATION<br />
Public consultation will soon close<br />
on the Heathcote Expressway<br />
project. The Heathcote cycleway<br />
will go from Heathcote through<br />
to Woolston, Opawa, Waltham<br />
and Sydenham into the central<br />
city. It connects Heathcote,<br />
Ferrymead and Woolston as<br />
well as key destinations such as<br />
Ferrymead Historic Park, The<br />
Tannery and Ara Institute of<br />
Canterbury. Consultation closes<br />
on Friday at 4pm. To make a<br />
submission go to https://www.<br />
ccc.govt.nz/transport/cycling/<br />
major-cycle-routes/major-cycleroutes-consultation/heathcoteexpressway-consultation/.<br />
The Great Museum<br />
Santa Search<br />
3 <strong>December</strong> to 8 January<br />
The team at Smart Real<br />
Estate wishes you a Happy<br />
and Safe Holiday Season.<br />
We thank you for your continued<br />
support and look forward to<br />
working with you in the New Year.<br />
Bring your family and join in the fun searching high and low for our<br />
hidden Santas. You could go into the draw to win a great prize.<br />
Visit our website to find out more.<br />
Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch<br />
General admission free; donations appreciated<br />
www.canterburymuseum.com<br />
Supported by<br />
Michael<br />
Arlidge<br />
Maureen<br />
Crowley<br />
Jahna<br />
Brennan<br />
Kama<br />
Jacobs<br />
Debra<br />
Hakaraia
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