29 November, 2024

Cultural practice hampered as council waits for report

Frustrated guardian… Gail Lyons is disappointed at the lack of progress on maintenance issues at the Mt Victoria Cemetery

Māori cultural traditions when visiting the historic grave of chief Eru Patuone at the Mt Victoria Cemetery on Takarunga are being thwarted by council inaction.
Washing hands after visiting graves removes tapu associated with the dead. But a tap near the grave has been unusable since 2022 despite Auckland Council previously agreeing to fix the problem.
Gail Lyons, a volunteer at the cemetery, said the water had been turned off at the meter, due to a leaking pipe. Visitors to the grave had previously used the tap, she said.
Council agreed in 2022 that the pipes would be fixed, but after another meeting in September she was told the repair would have be investigated by an archaeologist to see if it could go ahead.
Council northern area operations manager Sarah Jones confirmed an archaeologist had been engaged to prepare a heritage report, “which is a requirement for any works at a site like this”.
“This will identify any Heritage New Zealand authority and resource consents required to make any changes to the site and the impact those changes might have on the heritage values of the site.”
The report would be used in looking at future works, which might include water-supply repairs and a path extension.
Lyons wants council to extend the footpath from the stairs on the eastern side of the site, as the grass area leading up to them is often covered with leaves, making it slippery.
She is also worried that ride-on mowers used by council contractors are damaging the grounds and that weed trimmers have repeatedly damaged the edges of graves.
The mowers chewed up the turf which meant the grass didn’t grow and the ground was prone to slipping.
She has suggested planting and mulching around the graves to protect them from weed trimmers and has sectioned off some graves in an attempt to save them from further damage. Lyons said council had told her planting or mulching around the graves would be “inappropriate”.
She was frustrated that no progress had been made over issues at the cemetery.

• In Māori culture, the washing of hands on leaving urupā or cemeteries reflects the concepts of tapu (sacredness) and noa (freedom from tapu).
  The issue of having water available for this at the Mt Victoria Cemetery arose in 2022, when a 150-year commemoration of Patuone’s death was held.
  The tap near his grave had been turned off because of a leak. Because it had not been repaired in time for the event, a water station was set up instead.