Burying the Dead !

As a predominantly Christian country, Australia adopted the English custom of disposing of the dead by digging a hole six feet deep and making  that the final resting place of the deceased.  In some instances, families purchased additional land to house a crypt where various generations could be accommodated.  It became customary for some graves to be decorated with expensive statuary and often this was used to display the wealth and stature of whoever was buried there.

Put plainly, Sydney is fast running out of grave sites.   If there is no change to the ratio of cremations to burials,  cemetery capacity in greater Sydney will be exhausted by 2051.   All attempts to create new burial grounds face stiff opposition from the public.  The only option seems to be " renewable rights " where sites are reused unless the family pays renewal fees at twenty-five year intervals.

There are 851 working cemeteries in New South Wales, but only two - Waverley and Kemps Creek Cemeteries - offer this renewable rights option.   Public reaction to the permanency question is mixed. Most people would prefer grave sites to remain undisturbed forever, but the cost of a burial is moving out of reach of many families and consequently cremations are gaining favour.

In the distant past, each suburb set ground aside for a local cemetery and close relatives tended those graves as a mark of respect for the dead.  We now live in a changing world where people move to distant cities and even different countries as the job market changes and many of those old cemeteries are now filled to capacity, but rarely visited by relatives.  They have become an untidy blot on the landscape.

Perhaps this space shortage presents an opportunity for the funeral industry to present a new option to the public.  Having a cemetery close to each suburb has long given way to vast cemeteries like Rookwood and now the concept of burials which do not have a time term need to move to the country.

Many picturesque but struggling country towns would welcome the revival brought by a new funeral industry.  In fact, such would be the revival of an old custom.  Before cars became a means of transport for the masses, Sydney maintained what was called the " Mortuary Station " in the inner city from which grieving families travelled by train to distant suburban cemeteries.  It seems that the time has arrived to relocate those city cemeteries to where pleasant locations can provide the space for undisturbed graves and burials can remain within the cost structure of ordinary families.

Custom has displaced ornate statuary above graves and the lawn cemetery is now in vogue.   It is a simple fact of life that once a generation or so has passed the interest in family graves wanes and so these modern country cemeteries should remain viable indefinitely.

The day of city funerals is coming to a close. The funeral industry needs to adapt to new possibilities if it is to survive.