Death dearer outside city

Cremation fees at Palmerston North’s Kelvin Grove crematorium have been increased by 10 per cent for people from outside the city boundary, sparking protests from funeral directors.

The increased fees came in on July 1, and apply to people from as close as Feilding, Pahı¯atua and Pohangina, places which do not have crematoriums, even if they use a Palmerston North-based funeral director.

Some funeral directors are considering taking their business away from the city council-owned Kelvin Grove crematorium, or building their own facilities, to avoid the added costs.

‘‘I’m dead against it,’’ said Lychway funeral director Graeme Proctor. ‘‘It costs no more to cremate a person, no matter where they live.’’

Proctor said the council seemed to have overlooked the fact city funeral directors also provided services for people who lived outside the boundary, but saw Palmerston North as their service centre.

The out-of-district surcharge was introduced because some city councillors did not want city ratepayers to continue subsidising the cost of cremation for people who did not pay rates in Palmerston North.

The fees do not cover all of the costs of running the cemetery and crematorium.

Feilding funeral director Shane Cotton, Kelvin Grove’s third biggest customer, said the new fee structure was a false economy. ‘‘For the sake of $5000, you are risking my $50,000 worth of business.’’

He said if funeral directors stopped using the city council crematorium, it would have to increase its charges for locals.

Cotton said since the fee hike he had been approached by two other funeral directors pledging support should he choose to build his own crematorium. ‘‘It’s not what I want to do, but this makes it economic. I want to stay loyal.’’

Both men said they had not been consulted about the fee increases.

The fee schedule includes an option to waive the out-of-district surcharge for people who could prove they had paid rates in the city for 20 years, regardless of where they were living until their death.

But Cotton said that ignored that many people from Feilding had spent a lot of money in Palmerston North for many years.

The council’s planning and strategy committee received a total of six submissions on its draft cemeteries and crematorium bylaw yesterday.

Cotton said while the extra surcharge had been set separately in a review of fees and charges, the bylaw included a section on the council’s powers to set and alter fees, and he hoped it could be reconsidered when the council came to adopting the bylaw.

The draft bylaw will be considered in September.

‘‘It costs no more to cremate a person, no matter where they live.’’ Graeme Proctor