Council is exploring other burial and land options as the country's largest cemetery, Waikumete, is running out of room.
New Zealand's multi-cultural society is putting pressure on our final resting places. The council said there's plenty of space for burials in the north and south of Auckland, but western areas are running out of space as Waikumete fills up. There's also no area within the cemetery that would allow for development of additional burial plots.
"Waikumete Cemetery is of historical, cultural and ecological significance and we're at a point where development for new burial areas is challenging," councillor Penny Hulse said in a statement. Shelley Angus from Cemeteries and Crematoria Collective told cremation is not always an option for some cultures. "We are seeing a little bit of a change in that, in terms of the cultural diversity, but then there are some certain religions and cultures that are quite stoic in their beliefs, we have to adhere to that." Waikumete only has around five years left of burial space, and Ms Angus said countries outside New Zealand take a different approach to burials. "You [can] have a body burial plot that can be dug up within 10 years and then put in catacombs. I'm not sure that we're at that point in New Zealand where we need to consider that." But she does believe communities need to start having conversations about their options down the line. "Each community needs to get together with their local authority and discuss what they think is the best way to go. Some areas are more affluent than others so that will determine how things go."
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Poll: If we want to reduce speeding, what do you think actually changes driver behaviour? 🛻🚨🚓
In the Post's article on speeding penalties, the question is asked whether speeding fines are truly about road safety, or are they just a way to boost revenue for the Crown?
What do you think? Should speeding motorists receive speeding fines or demerit points?
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37.2% The sting of a fine (Money talks!)
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62.8% The threat of demerit points (Nobody wants to lose their license!)
Energy Resilience & Security
“India is facing a highly precarious situation for its energy security if the Strait of Hormuz – the world’s most critical oil shipping chokepoint – remains closed amidst the escalating Middle East crisis.”
Can you imagine how easy it is to choke New Zealand’s supply of oil & gas if it ever found itself in a conflict situation? How easy it is to blow up a 1 Billion Dollar LNG facility? Evan as a non-combatant like India you can be badly effected.
How about distributed solar installations on tens of thousands of roofs? Supported by distributed wind and tidal power?
Alternative energy won’t make companies rich - but it beats coal, oil, gas on not only price but security, resilience (just ask Ukraine), job creation, and the environment hands down.
It’s a no-brainer - unless you are a profit-oriented used car salesman … how did NZ ever end up with him? Nearly as bad as Trump.
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
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