It’s a question of respect not cost

OK, so the Bass Coast Shire Council has finally thrown up its hands and acknowledged that it can’t run the Wonthaggi and San Remo cemeteries to the satisfaction of either itself or the local communities.

Frankly, it’s not a surprise.

In a report to council this week, councillors are being asked to admit their failures and to consider handing over the management of the two cemeteries to the Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (SMCT) which operates, principally metropolitan cemeteries, including Springvale Botanical Cemetery, the Melbourne General Cemetery, Brighton General Cemetery, Dandenong Community Cemetery and the Sorrento Cemetery.

But given that such a move raises far more questions than have so far been answered in the publicly-released reports, a decision along these lines would seem to be extremely premature.

For one, you are talking about a very small operation with just 53 burials between the two cemeteries in financial year 2022; 46 at Wonthaggi and 7 at San Remo and the ashes from 13 cremations (5 Wonthaggi and 8 San Remo) memorialised locally.

And despite the fact that San Remo has not produced an operating profit in the past five years, between them, the two cemeteries have recorded a net loss of only $73,000 in the past five years.

Not a significant amount for such an important service.

You’d think a council with the resources of Bass Coast would handle such a small management role with ease.

And notwithstanding the fact that council has set aside a modest $3.2 million in its Long Term Capital Works Program for projects over the next 10 years, and is projecting it will contribute $2.2 million for staffing over the next five years; it would seem to be more of an issue of spending priorities and a lack of commitment to delivering basic community services than it is an indictment on council’s ability to manage generally.

The community probably doesn’t need to be concerned about the ability of a not-for-profit organisation like SMCT to manage the cemeteries but they should be concerned about the possible impact on burial costs.

And the cost of operation, maintenance and future expansion isn’t going to go away.

There’s also the question of whether the Wonthaggi Cemetery is even located in the right place (next to the tip), given projected expansion of the town and on-going drainage problems there.

The council is going to have to consult with the community and provide a much more comprehensive report, including comparative examples from other regional communities, the likely cost to local families of such a change and future planning for the two facilities before it simply hands the problems over to someone else, expecting them to go away, or at least be hidden from view under commercial-in-confidence and contractual protocols.