The plaques at Hamilton Park Cemetery are slowly being lost to nature. But, when one man tried to do something about his son’s grave and those around it, he found out it wasn’t that simple.
Julie and Murray Young go to the cemetery each month to remember their son Malcolm, who was tragically killed after a drunk driver, with no lights and driving down the wrong side of the road, hit his car late at night.
Malcolm’s family is still around to care for his memory. But, others aren’t so lucky, and grass is overtaking many of their graves.
“You’ll see a third of someone's plaque, and I just think that's so disrespectful. That's their resting place and that's all that's there to show for them,” Murray told Seven Sharp.
Every now and again, Murray would take the lawnmower out to trim the grass around Malcolm’s plaque.
He used to do the same for the plaques around his son’s. But, Hamilton City Council told him he wasn’t allowed to do it because he didn’t have permission from the families of the others at the cemetery.
The council said they cared for plaques for 10 years. After that, it's the family's responsibility.
By design, the cemetery is meant to eventually look like a lawn. The council said it wasn’t about costs, but it was about creating a place of remembrance linking people with nature.
“At the time of [the] development [of the cemetery] in the 50s, the concept was that you would be buried in a lawn area and it had a more natural look and feel,” said Maria Barrie, the council’s parks and recreation manager.
“It also goes a long way to preserving the plaques because you're not getting that regular damage.”
She said the council got more compliments than complaints.
“In terms of the maintenance of these lawn areas, the complaint level is extremely low.”
But Malcolm disagrees. He vowed to keep the cemetery as tidy as he could for as long as he could.
“But, now it’s taken on a different perspective,” he said.
“The people laid to rest out there deserve a little bit of respect.”
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