The Mount Alexander Shire and a Castlemaine funeral director are at an impasse over the use of public green spaces for certain funerals following an incident late last year, where a park user was reportedly shocked by the sight of a casket.
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The council said a funeral service with a casket was held next to Lake Joanna at the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens in December and, given the distress it cause the complainant, council staff moved to ban caskets, or similar representations of a body in open and accessible public spaces.
The shire’s mayor Bronwen Machin said it was not averse to funerals in public spaces, but “really, we don’t want to have bodies in well-trafficked areas”.
“We don’t want to shock people as they (funerals) are a sensitive issue,” she said.
A spokesperson for the Mount Alexander Shire council said a decision was made by council staff in December, and the shire was developing a formal position on funeral services in parks and gardens as part of its Park User Guidelines.
“It is not unreasonable for people to expect to see a casket at cemetery or public state funeral. However it is unexpected for park users to come across a private funeral service during their leisure time in the gardens,” the spokesperson said.
Thompson Family Funerals director Peter Thompson said the details within the complaint were incorrect and the shire had failed to consult relevant organisations before making its decision.
Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards said the ban on certain funeral services in public spaces was a “knee-jerk reaction” that, unfortunately, was becoming a “little divisive” in the community.
“I understand that it (public funeral service) doesn't happen very often, there’s been perhaps one or two in the last 10 years,” she said.
“It’s something that probably has been a knee-jerk reaction.”
Ms Edwards said the matter was for the Mount Alexander Shire Council as the use of public open space is controlled by council by-laws, but suggested the solution to the issue could be a simple one.
“This matter of course is something that needs to be resolved,” she said.
Former Castlemaine Ward councillor Tony Bell said ratepayers deserved to use the facilities they paid to maintain.
“Just put some signs in letting people know there’s a funeral on,” he said.
Mr Bell, who resigned as a councillor in October, said he understood councillors weren’t aware of the decision that had been made by shire staff.
In the City of Greater Bendigo, public funerals are regarded as an activity in a public space, and would require a permit to go ahead.