Coromandel cemetery open for burials for another 30 years

A swap with a landowner in Coromandel has ensured the local cemetery can remain open for burials for another 30 to 40 years with substantial savings to ratepayers as a bonus.

In recent years the Coromandel Buffalo Road Cemetery was reaching its capacity for burials with only eight plots left. But an exchange of land between the Thames-Coromandel District Council and a private landowner on Buffalo Rd, Coromandel, will allow an extension of the cemetery with room for another 250-300 plots.

The land exchange in effect saves ratepayers a forecasted cost of $906,000 which was budgeted for 2012 in the Long-term Council Community Plan (LTCCP). This is the amount that would have been needed to buy more land in the Coromandel area for cemetery use.

The council will enter into an agreement with the landowner to buy – for $1 – some 1459 sq m of his land adjoining the cemetery, and will go through the process to stop 1459 sq m of an unformed road known as Dooley St as a land swap.

The Coromandel-Colville Community Board has been an advocate of the land swap. Board chair Chris Stark says: “We’re thrilled this Board project has been successful as it’s a very good example of thinking outside the square and saving ratepayers a considerable amount of money. We'd also like to thank landowner Murray Beech for his willingness to go along with this idea and his patience in getting it through to fruition.”