BNZ Theatre

BNZ Theatre

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  Brad Smeele

Traditional cemetery maps often lack the detail and personal connection that families seek when remembering their loved ones. Advances in visualisation technology create a more personal, immersive, and accessible way to experience cemeteries.

In this presentation, we’ll explore how Chronicle uses digital visualisation to enhance cemetery management and visitor engagement by accurately representing diverse burial practices.

Cemeteries accommodate various burial practices, each requiring accurate representation. Green burials use natural markers like trees and flowers instead of headstones. Digitally enhanced mapping ensures these memorials are clearly identifiable.

Historic cemeteries face accessibility and preservation challenges. 3D mapping and virtual tours allow remote exploration while safeguarding historical records.

Cremation memorials, including niche walls, are often overlooked in cemetery visualisation. High-resolution 360° imagery ensures these spaces receive the same recognition as traditional gravesites.

Unique burial spaces, such as hexagonal or curved plots, require precise mapping to reflect their real-world shape rather than standard rectangular layouts.

Ash scattering gardens and water-themed memorials benefit from specialised mapping that highlights their distinct locations, making them easier to find and honor.

As an example, we’ll highlight Auckland Memorial Park and Cemetery (AMPC) to show how specialised mapping improves clarity for unique burial spaces. AMPC demonstrates these advancements by using mapping to visualise ash scattering on the lake and non-traditional burial spaces. Families can locate and connect with these memorials, preserving their significance.

These advancements in cemetery visualisation enhance both public engagement and cemetery management, offering new ways to preserve, navigate, and experience memorial spaces with greater care and accuracy.

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  James Dunn

  Cemetery Manager
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  Sam Gibb

  Sales Director of Chronicle

Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage (The Ministry) cares for more than 4,000 war and historic graves and memorials spread across New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. Behind the scenes, a small but dedicated team works to ensure these important historical assets are preserved for future generations. While we work closely with talented stonemasons and conservators across the country, we can always use more help in caring for these graves and memorials.

In this interactive session, we will introduce the Ministry’s new Asset Planner and demonstrate how attendees can use this tool to identify and report issues concerning significant graves and memorials in the cemeteries they manage. The aim is to promote more "Eyes On" these graves across the country, while also encouraging cemetery staff to reconnect with and promote the history and heritage on their doorstep.

We will conclude the session with a brainstorming activity, capturing feedback on the challenges cemeteries might face when managing heritage graves and gathering suggestions on how the Ministry and staff on the ground can collaborate more effectively.

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  Becky Masters-Ramsay

  Senior Adviser – War Graves and National Monuments at Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage

A month’s worth of rainfall in a single day, and 1200 tonnes of silt and debris pouring down into the Queenstown Cemetery. This is what Tarsy Koentges, Parks Officer for Cemeteries and Heritage, and Dave Winterburn, Parks Manager at the Queenstown Lakes District Council, faced on the morning of 23 September 2023 following a severe weather event.

Join them on a journey of restoration and recovery to examine the complexities and challenges involved in organising and accomplishing the clean-up of a cemetery during a disaster response. From technical inputs such as GIS and ground penetrating radar mapping, to physical operations planning, to relationship management both with internal and external project partners, as well as navigating sensitive communications with community members, all undertaken with the engagement of cultural advisors from Kāi Tahu to ensure we applied a Te ao Māori lens across our work.

We hope to impart our knowledge and learnings to session attendees so that they can anticipate and prepare well in advance of any emergency event.

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  Tarsy Koentges

  Parks Officer - Cemeteries & Heritage at Queenstown Lakes District Council
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  Dave Winterburn

  Parks Manager Queenstown Lakes District Council

Waipā District Council’s Cemetery Concept Plans 2023 was the first substantial planning initiative undertaken to enhance the District's ten public cemeteries. In collaboration with Xyst Ltd, the Council engaged with mana whenua and key stakeholders, including funeral directors, graziers, the Returned and Services Association (RSA), and the broader community. This project marked the first time the Council had sought mana whenua and extensive community input on cemetery development, reflecting a commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, inclusivity, and responsiveness.

The project tackled crucial issues at the public cemeteries, such as their capacity, how accessible they are to all members of the community, and the visitor experience. The project also considered the impacts of wider factors such as roading changes, urban intensification, evolving burial and interment preferences, and infrastructure to support tikanga.

Join us to hear about the process and successful outcomes of this exemplary cemeteries planning project which leveraged concept plans into a full prioritised network implementation plan, and is a testament to Waipā District Council’s dedication to preserving the dignity and functionality of its public cemeteries for generations to come.

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  Matt Johnstone

  Park Operations Team Leader at Waipa District Council
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  Anna McElrea

  Senior Consultant at Xyst Ltd
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  Liz Oldfield

  Senior Landscape Architect at Xyst

The Dunedin City Council was proactive in 1954 when selecting a 53 Ha parcel of land on Brighton Road to build a cemetery to take over from Andersons Bay Cemetery which was predicted to be at capacity in the mid-1970s. As Andersons Bay Cemetery was reaching capacity, preparation work began on the Brighton Road property - now called Green Park Cemetery. As the contractors began work on infrastructure such as roading and stormwater drainage it became apparent that there were significant issues with the ground conditions on site. In 1977 Council decided that the site was no longer suitable as a cemetery.

There was no option but to start interments at the site because Andersons Bay was by now not able to take new interments. The intention was to carry out Stage 1 and investigate the purchase of a more suitable site in the same vicinity.

This presentation summarises what has happened in the previous 30 years and what is planned for the Green Park Cemetery in the future.

Staff are aware of the limitations of the site and have been investigating the feasibility of using specific areas of the site to justify expenditure on infrastructure development. The basis of the decision-making has been to carry out geotechnical investigations on the site and from that, identify land use based on ground stability.

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  John Brenkley

  Parks Planning Manager at Dunedin City Council

NZ has long had the unrealised privilege of buying a cemetery plot and owning it essentially forever.

In today's day and age with population growth and urban sprawl many councils are facing the difficult challenge of finding enough land to provide burial space, a national conversation needs to start happening regarding limited tenure plots.

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  Daniel Chrisp

  Cemeteries Manager at Porirua City Council
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  Elizabeth Reddington

  Administration Manager- Cemeteries at Wellington City Council

Managing cemeteries comes with unique challenges and opportunities, particularly when it comes to operational models. This presentation will explore three distinct approaches to cemetery
management.

The first model showcases a fully self-sufficient cemetery team, responsible for everything from grave digging to hedge trimming, lawn mowing, garden care, and tree maintenance.

The second model focuses solely on grave digging, relying on a wider parks maintenance team to manage lawns, gardens, and trees.

And finally, we look at it from a contractor point of view, where every day can be vastly different to those with a pure parks focus.

We’ll dive into the cost implications of these models, how resources are shared across business units, and the impact these approaches have on operational efficiency and community outcomes. By comparing these models side by side, we aim to highlight key considerations for optimising cemetery management and achieving sustainable results.

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  Daniel Chrisp

  Cemeteries Manager at Porirua City Council
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  Ricky Mulqueen

  Team Leader - Cemeteries at Invercargill City Council
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  Pam Neal

  Supervisor Cemeteries at Downer New Zealand