Council ‘blasting’ at new gravesites
THE Gold Coast City Council has been accused of using an outdated practice to settle graves faster at cemeteries.
Two grieving families say council “blasted” the grave sites soon after loved ones were buried, leaving the plot unsightly and water-logged.
Earlier this year, a grieving mother found her dead son’s grave at Mudgeeraba Cemetery in poor condition after it had been allowed to sink up to 20 centimetres.
Widow Margarita Ghazarian said that late last year, she and her daughter saw contractors with a tanker pump water into her husband’s grave at Southport Cemetery.
He had been buried less than a week. She said the practice, which Gold Coast City Council described as “common”, had never been discussed with her.
“I was shocked. It’s disturbing and disgusting … that council can do that without our permission,” she said.
She said she was worried her late husband’s expensive casket had been damaged.
George Miteff-Topalov claims he visited his father’s Southport grave on January 29 – less than 10 days after he was buried – to find it oozing mud and water.
Up to a foot of dirt was missing from the grave because it had sunk so far.
He said families needed to know what council was doing to family graves without their express permission.
“It just makes me cringe, gives me goosebumps. Poor Dad,” he said.
“How would you feel if you buy a grave and then they blast the hell out of it?”
Mr Miteff-Topalov said he had called 33 different councils around Australia to see if they used the practice, but claims none of them did.
When contacted by the Bulletin, a Council spokesman said: “It is common around the world and is done to settle the ground after burial so that it can be turfed or a monument can be constructed.
“If not undertaken, the ground can settle unevenly and potentially create a sink hole. The most common service request our cemeteries staff receive is about when they will consolidate and turf the land.
“All graves are treated this way except those where a religious burial custom requires a different process.”
He did not comment on whether or not they tell families about the practice.
The Bulletin also contacted 10 other councils. Only three met the deadline for a response.
City of Newcastle, NSW and Moreton Bay Regional Council said they did not use this practice, while Cairns Regional Council does.
Private burial company, InvoCare, which includes Carrara’s Allambe Memorial Park, said the practice was “old-fashioned” and did not consider the “use of water settling to be a respectful way of compacting soil in the grave post burial”.
“We know families find water in graves distressing and as a result this process is not used across InvoCare parks and gardens,” an InvoCare spokeswoman said.
“The current process involves mechanical compaction of soil, either a plate compactor or a rolling device that is used to compact the soil. At a later stage the graves are turfed.”
IF NOT UNDERTAKEN, THE GROUND CAN SETTLE UNEVENLY AND POTENTIALLY CREATE A SINK HOLE.