The Devonport City Council is inviting public comment on its draft Devonport General Cemetery Master Plan 2021-2031.

The Plan is a guiding document for the development and management of the Cemetery over a ten-year period commencing in July 2020.

The development of Master Plans for all Devonport cemeteries is an action of the Cemetery Strategy 2011-2030.

The Cemetery sits on a 2.8 ha site of public open space, in ownership of the Devonport City Council, located on the northern corner of Stony Rise Road and Lawrence Drive. The entrance is located off Lawrence Drive, adjacent to Council’s Works Depot.

It is the second largest of the four cemeteries along this road and is within a few hundred metres of St. Olave’s and the Congregational Cemetery.

Mayor Annette Rockliff said the central aim of the Master Plan was to preserve the individual and shared heritage values of the Cemetery, while sustainably adapting the site for the current and future needs of the community.

The objectives of the Master Plan are to:

• Identify relevant landscape, heritage and operational constraints and opportunities.
• Understand and respect social and historical values in Cemetery management.
• Provide a strategic approach towards cemetery enhancement that is realistic, achievable and within reasonable resources available to the Council and community.

Cr Rockliff said the Plan included three principles and 11 actions which aimed to meet these objectives. Council is now seeking feedback from Cemetery visitors and interested community members on these.

She said many residents still visited the cemetery regularly to remember loved ones.

“Many residents maintain a close affinity with the Cemetery as evidenced by the fact that over 70 submissions were received to a community survey in March, with almost 70 per cent of respondents still living in Devonport,” she said.

“Participants were asked for their suggestions on how to improve the cemetery with general maintenance (tree pruning, weed control, removal of litter), plot maintenance/restoration and road/walkway accessibility among the most common responses.”

A link to the survey can be found on the Speak Up Devonport page of Council’s website.

The survey closes at 5 p.m. on 26 June 2020

ENDS

Media Contact
Nigel Tapp |Media & Communications Officer Devonport City Council
03 6424 0562 | 0427 132 972 |[email protected]