Mount Alexander Shire councillors will revisit the council’s controversial decision to temporarily ban funerals in public spaces at Tuesday’s ordinary meeting.
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A motion moved by Cr Dave Petrusma recommends the council allow funerals and memorials in public locations, so long as they are agreed to by council staff and away from main thoroughfares and high-use areas, until it develops a formal position on the issue in consultation with the community and funeral service providers.
The shire put a moratorium on funeral services in the shire’s public spaces after a complaint was made about a funeral held in the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens late last year.
But the decision was met with backlash from the community, with Peter Thompson from Thompson Family Funerals creating a petition calling for the council to reverse the ban.
The petition – which supports the motion before council – also requests the council hold at least one public consultation session on the issue and create a policy to allow funerals with a casket or representation of a body to be held on council-controlled land.
Mr Thompson will present the petition at the meeting.
Speaking to the Bendigo Advertiser late Tuesday morning, Peter Thompson said the petition had attracted about 600 signatures, with more to come in before the meeting.
He said he was proud of the community for its support.
People should be allowed to have their funerals in places special to them, Mr Thompson said, and in doing so, it provided a place where family could visit and remember them.
He said it was also important to keep in mind that nowadays funerals were increasingly a celebration of a life than an occasion of mourning.
Mr Thompson is confident the motion before the council will get up.
Local death literacy advocate Hayley West also hopes the moratorium on funerals will be lifted.
“I think the motion’s really positive,” Ms West said.
She said the most heartening aspect of the motion was the suggestion the formal council position on the issue be developed in consultation with the community.
When people could commemorate their loved ones in such spaces, Ms West said it helped with the grieving.
Some members of the community, however, supported the council’s move to ban funerals in public spaces, explaining they would find it traumatic to witness a funeral service unexpectedly, due to their own experiences.
After the decision was made, a council spokesperson said it was not unreasonable for a person to expect to see a casket at a cemetery or 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.
A new park user guideline has been in the works for some time and if Tuesday’s motion is passed, the council’s position on funerals will be incorporated in that document.
Natalie Croxon
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
Reporter at the Illawarra Mercury, mostly covering social affairs. Previously of the Bendigo Advertiser, Northern Daily Leader and Quirindi Advocate. Our Watch award winner.
