The Centre for Natural Burial

Shoalhaven City Council has approved a two year trial for Natural Burials at its Lawn Cemetery & Memorial Gardens complex, which is situated east of Nowra.

The South Coast Register sought comment from Ulladulla funeral director Simon Law; While he has not had any local inquiries, he commended council on considering the requirements and needs of local families and trialing the idea for 24 months.

“I think the concept is really good,” Mr Law said.

“However, once people realise that the grave will not be marked, grieving families may not want to go that way.”

The Council’s decided to test public acceptance and demand because there is a lack of evidence that there is actual significant demand for natural burial. The expectation is that less than 8% of burials will be “natural”. The number becomes even less significant in the Shoalhaven where about 75% of all deaths are cremated. It is expected that between 8 to 16  natural burials will be provided for during the trial period.

Council has also decided to apply strict guidelines to its natural burial ground. Key among these is required certification about the sustainability of products used. For example, coffins will need to be sourced from renewable or recycled materials and plastics will not be permitted at all. The ground above burial will be returned to its natural and native state immediately after burial. There are also severe restrictions on floral tributes and mementos etc are forbidden. There will not be, of course, any permanent markers over the grave, although the physical location of the grave will be thoroughly surveyed and recorded.

The recommendations of the report drew on the reported experiences of Lismore Memorial Park, Enfield Memorial Park (SA), Sydney Catholic Lawn Cemetery (Kemps Creek) and a number of local government authorities in the UK.

The report to Council and attachments is available to CCANSW members here. They can also be found on Shoalhaven City Council’s website. (See R & R Committee, 9th November 2010 and Council’s meeting on 16th November 2010).