Geoff and Patrica Vause return to the cemetery twice a year to tend to their daughter Bronwyn’s grave.
Bronwyn was killed in 1985, when she was 15, and since then her parents have lovingly tended to her plot in the cemetery — and now that of Mr Vause’s brother, Murray, who is buried beside her.
They always visit before Christmas to renew the artificial flower arrangements, wash the headstone down with fresh water and spend time with their "little girl".
At the time of Bronwyn’s death the cemetery was the responsibility of the Alexandra Borough Council and Mr Vause looked after the area Bronwyn’s grave was located in, mowing the lawn and edging grass along the concrete.
When the borough council was superseded by the Central Otago District Council, contractor Asplundh was employed to look after the site.
Mr Vause said the contractors sprayed the edges of the grass surrounding the graves to make it easier to mow.
"There were a few people who complained to the council about it and the procedure was stopped and things were quite fine. They had a little lawn mower; it had a catcher on it and they would cut it flat out — they were really, really clever with what they would do ... The lawn was just perfectly mown."
The contractor had changed in the past "three or four years" and things had gone downhill, Mr Vause said.
The edging had been sprayed out further, to about 20cm, leaving bare dirt and mud splashing on to the headstones when it rained.
Mr Vause said he had voiced his concerns to the council repeatedly but felt they had fallen on deaf ears.
He twice emailed photos to the council from when he had looked after the site himself, as well as to Asplundh, and images demonstrating his concerns, as well as repeatedly calling the council, he said.
He had spoken to council staff and was told "we’ll try to get it better for you".
Twelve months on, there had been no improvement, Mr Vause said.
"We come back specifically for this — we’ve got no other family here apart from [Murray] and two in the older part of the cemetery," Mr Vause said.
"I’ve never had to [remove grass and mud] — this is the third time I’ve had to clean all that muck off.
"It feels bloody awful. It makes us just so sad," he said.
"To most people who have family here, it’s quite a sacred sort of place."
The couple had intended the plot alongside their daughter to be their final resting place, but were now reconsidering.
Council parks and recreation manager Gordon Bailey said the cemetery was looked after by the council and mowed weekly.
It was standard practice for the clippings to be left on the ground at council-maintained cemeteries as it would be too expensive to pick them up due to the size of the cemetery and area of grass to be mowed.
The edges had been done recently but the newest section of the cemetery still needed "a bit of a tidy-up", he said.
"This area is not picked up, so grass does get blown around if windy and can be a little clumpy when weather conditions aren’t great.
"If necessary, a couple of double cuts over a two or three-week period will help."
