Keep your cemetery tidy

Reporter Community News

Porirua City Council cemetery staff need your help keeping Whenua Tapu Cemetery tidy to show respect to the more than 10,000 people who call it their final resting place.
Bottles and glass vases are regularly broken and end up strewn on the grass, acting parks operations manager Mark Hammond says.
"Our staff do their best to respect and look after ornaments, keepsakes, flowers and other items by placing them back where we believe they’ve come from, but it is often difficult to work out where," he says.
"Flowers, bottles and other ornaments can get caught by mowers and line trimmers, making it not only a safety issue for staff but also it’s heart-breaking to be taking so many items to the skip. We need to keep Whenua Tapu tidy for the whole community to enjoy when they visit."
Some of the lighter items, like plastic flowers, can end up in streams and in Taupō Swamp, making them hazardous to birdlife and our natural environment.
If you want to learn more about the best ways you can ensure your loved ones’ tributes are looked after and stay put, come along to our Whenua Tapu open day on Saturday 7 November from 12-2pm.