There are plenty of places to live in Mosgiel, but nowhere to go when you die, resident Alistair Grant says. In a "town the size of Mosgiel", it was "ridiculous" people had nowhere to be buried.
The nearest cemeteries were in Allanton, Waldronville and West Taieri, which were too far for many people, particularly the elderly, to travel to visit the graves of loved ones, he said.
In order to remedy this, he approached the Mosgiel Taieri Community Board, seeking support for reopening the East Taieri Cemetery.
The cemetery was closed in 2005 when it became full, but Mr Grant believed vacant land could be bought to expand it. Some of the adjacent Dunedin City Council dog park could be used as well, or instead.
However, council botanic garden and cemeteries team leader Alan Matchett said "We've faced huge issues of drainage and flooding at that cemetery" because it is low lying.
In the past, the dog park had been considered as a way to extend the cemetery but it, too, had flooding issues.
The council did not want to "put people through that agony" of having a loved one buried in a place which regularly flooded, he said. Occasionally, the council heard talk about people wanting the East Taieri Cemetery reopened, but had not had "too many direct approaches".
Second interments of caskets and ashes still regularly occurred in some burial plots. Allanton Cemetery had a large available area and improvements had been made to parking and access since East Taieri closed.
Mr Matchett believed it might be possible in the future, if demand existed, for a cemetery to be developed closer to Mosgiel, but it would depend on availability and suitability of land.
"We want to do it properly."
