The Dunedin City Council is remaining tight-lipped following a meeting to resolve an access dispute over Larnach's tomb.
The dispute, revealed earlier this month, centred on who controlled public access to the tomb in the Northern Cemetery, which was restored in 2011 at a cost of $345,000.
Council staff were to meet members of the Historic Cemeteries Conservation Trust of New Zealand in an attempt to resolve the dispute, after council staff were forced to change locks on the tomb to ensure their own access.
Contacted yesterday, council parks, recreation and aquatics group manager Mick Reece confirmed he met trust deputy chairman Dr Chris Rudd on Friday to discuss the dispute.
The meeting had been ''very positive'', but would be followed by another after both sides sought more information and advice, Mr Reece said.
''We both have nothing to report until we've done that.''
No date had yet been set for the next meeting, but there was no need to rush the process, Mr Reece said.
''There's nothing urgent that's being held up or compromised by this process, so we're not trying to push anybody into doing anything more quickly than they're comfortable with.''
Dr Rudd told the Otago Daily Times access and maintenance issues were for the council to decide, but the trust wanted regular checks to ensure the tomb ''doesn't fall into disrepair - again''.
Public access should also ''keep in mind that this is a private burial place'', and be conducted in a way that protected the interior and respected those interred within, he said.
