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Cemetery Sales Policy

Reference: P10-006 
Status: Approved by the Council 20 July 2010 

Policy Purpose

To limit the purchase of the exclusive right of burial in a plot to the time of a bereavement.
To prevent any reservation of a natural burial plot.

Policy Objectives

To reduce the number of unused plots.
To support the long term usability of natural burial plots. 

Policy Scope

The policy covers:

The activity of burials in New Plymouth District Council’s cemeteries with the addition of natural burial that involve a shallow grave, no embalming, biodegradable casket, over planting of the grave and no headstone.

Policy Statements

• No sales of exclusive rights of burial will be permitted for plots in Council managed cemeteries unless there has been a recent bereavement and interment in those cemeteries of a spouse or other close family member and it is possible to offer an exclusive right without significantly compromising the available burial space.
• There is no option for reserving plots in designated natural burials areas including the purchase of right of use of an adjacent plot at a time of recent bereavement and interment. 

Burial Applications

Applications for burial from the New Plymouth District Council shall be on the approved form and include:

• A death certificate or other documentation relating to the release of the body.
• Relevant information where a person died of a communicable disease.
• Written confirmation by the applicant that the requirements have been met.

Application Fees

Application fees for the exclusive right of use of a plot may be set by New Plymouth District Council from time to time, pursuant to Section 150 of the Local Government Act 2002, and shall include consideration of:

• The actual cost of processing the application.
• The actual cost of purchasing the exclusive right of use of a burial plot.
• The actual cost of the burial.

Review of Policy

This policy shall be reviewed prior to each triennial anniversary of the date on which it takes effect.
Notes: Okato, Purangi Te Henui and the new district cemetery have been added into clause D(1) of the revised policy for completeness.
Purchase involves the ‘right of use’ to be buried in a plot. Once a burial takes place, use is considered perpetual, otherwise a 60 year term applies.

Reviewed: three yearly (next review 2013)



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