Councillor has dig at cemetery report

– Melissa Meehan
PAKENHAM’S bid to find a second cemetery site has all but been stopped dead in its tracks.
Cardinia Shire councillor Brett Owen requested in November that council officers prepare a report regarding the much-needed acquisition of land for a second cemetery.
But when the report was tabled at Monday night’s council meeting Cr Owen said he was disappointed with the depth of its findings.
He urged the council to continue to advocate for a second cemetery in the town.
“I wanted the report to investigate purchasing land to extend the current cemetery site, which was the intent of my motion to have a report prepared,” Cr Owen said.
“But I have recently been told by the CEO that it is not the role of the council to find land that is available for purchase.”
Cr Owen said the Pakenham Cemetery Trust might find it difficult to afford land in town, and would need to rely on government funding.
“Maybe, we can make it an election issue,” he said.
“They did it with the Berwick Cemetery, maybe one of our local politicians can help Pakenham out.”
Fellow councillor Bill Pearson said while he agreed that Pakenham needed to find another cemetery site sooner rather than later, he said he didn’t believe it was feasible to buy land within residential zoning.
“The Pakenham Cemetery Trust must do what the Bunyip Cemetery did and go outside the zoning,” he said.
“Population in the area is going through the roof and land prices outside the zoning would be cheaper.”
Recently the cemetery trust has evaluated two sites but both were found to be too expensive or unsuitable.
Cr Owen said he hoped the council could continue to assist where it could.