Maintenance work at Kaikohe cemetery in the Far North.
Photo: Far North District Council

It might seem like planning in the extreme – but it turns out many of us like to be prepared when it comes to our final resting place.

So much so, that in the Far North, the district council is having to bring in tighter controls across its 11 cemeteries to prevent so-called “plot hoarding”.

That is reserving a plot, but not using it for many years.

The district is running out of space to bury people as it tries to cope with a growing and ageing population.

Out of just over 9500 burial plots, only 833 are free.

The new guidelines will limit applications or additional plots for family members.

Moko Tepania
Photo: Northern Advocate / supplied

Far North District mayor Moko Tepania said the new policy was an attempt at helping whānau plan ahead for what would happen while balancing the shortage of land.

“Currently, our policy allows you to hold on to as many as you like.”

Under new rules, people would be able to hold on to a maximum of two adjacent plots “but not forever or for all time”.

The time limit would be set at 25 years and would then need to be reviewed although Tepania expected that might change once a more long-term policy was decided on.

It was an “interim measure ” until they sorted out a more permanent “fit-for-purpose” policy, he said.

It would be trialled while the council gained feedback from community boards and members of the public.

Examples of cemeteries running short of plots included Kerikeri which had just 27 free spaces and Kaeo which had 12.

“So we need to work to make sure we fund expanding our public cemeteries and this is just a measure to restrict our whānau for the time being so we can put some better measures in place.”

Culturally, Māori believed they needed to be returned to whenua after death although there was also the option of 100 urupa (burial sites) based at marae in the region.

While it was a “random” topic to be considering, it was necessary, he told Checkpoint.