A Christian church says it regrets the untidy state its disused cemetery in east Auckland fell into and it’s working to ensure the situation is rectified.
A post on the Flat Bush Grapevine Facebook page earlier this year highlighted the appearance of the small Methodist Church of New Zealand Flat Bush Cemetery in Chapel Road.
Photos showed long grass interspersed with weeds and gravestones looking unclean and derelict.
The headstone on one grave was broken into multiple pieces.
Dozens of people commented on the post saying it was sad to see a cemetery fall into such a state.
The cemetery occupies a small parcel of land between two large residential housing developments and near the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist temple.
A sign standing at the site states the cemetery was established in 1884 and closed in 1972.
The land is owned by Trinity Methodist Church in Pakuranga.
Amos Muzondiwa, the church’s presbyter, says he visited the cemetery earlier this year after being phoned by two members of the public, one of whom shouted at and insulted him, about its appearance.
He was surprised at what he found.
“My understanding of the state it should be is not what it was,” Muzondiwa told the Times.
“When I got there I talked to our parish council and the situation was worse than what these people were talking about. It was shockingly bad.
“Even if we weren’t talking of a graveyard, if it was just a portion of land in the neighbourhood, I wouldn’t want it to look like that.”
He says the church employs a contractor to maintain the cemetery and mow its lawns once a month “on the condition he assesses the situation”.
Once Muzondiwa saw how it looked earlier this year, he spoke to the contractor and learned he’d been on holiday, he says.
The grass at the cemetery has since been cut and it’s looking much tidier.
Regarding the state of the graves at the site, Muzondiwa says “that’s a bit of a problem”.
“My understanding is you don’t play around with somebody’s graves and you don’t just rebuild it.
“You need the family’s permission.
“Now and again the church will do that as we have the names, and it can take a long time to research and consult, but once we get the go-ahead we can spruce the graves up.”
Muzondiwa says the church is considering handing the cemetery over to Auckland Council, as it’s done with another one in the area.
“We’re trying our best to look after the place and we are investigating the possibility of sprucing up those graves.
“The issues of tombstones and headstones, those are family matters, but when a grave has collapsed or is in danger then it becomes disrespectful and we might build it up so it looks nice.
“People shouldn’t hesitate to contact us to say ‘can you guys do this?’, but shouting doesn’t help anything.”
When the Times visited the cemetery in January a pile of soiled nappies appeared to have been dumped on the grass.
“That’s a community problem,” Muzondiwa says of the nappies.
“We need to appeal to one another that that is not the way we do things.
“We can only appeal to them as neighbours to respect that piece of property.”
