"Like a cemetery out of a movie... a horror movie'
• April 11, 2024
Sign in Symonds Street Cemetery that has been heavily graffitied. Photo: Quinn Plunkett
Overgrown gravestones and footpaths at New Zealand’s oldest cemetery and burial place of its first governor point to a lack of maintenance that has prompted calls for Auckland Council to “step up”.
Friends of Symonds Street Cemetery Chairperson Tricia Reade believes it should be Auckland Council's responsibility to maintain the park where William Hobson, first governor of New Zealand, is buried, rather than it falling to the local board.
“Although it is in the Waitemata area, it is still one of Auckland's most precious heritage parks,” she says.
“Why isn't Auckland more proud of its incredible heritage park that actually tells the history of Auckland. We should be proud of that heritage rather than ignoring it and not looking after it.
“I think Auckland Council should step up and not pass the buck to the local boards."
The Advocacy Group, Friends of Symonds Street Cemetery (FSSC) was established in 2013 by the Waitemata Local Board, with its primary focus on protecting and restoring Symonds Street Cemetery.
Ten years later, the graveyard is overrun by nature and still seems to be used for antisocial gatherings.
The group claims the local board doesn’t provide enough funding for regular removal of rubbish or weeding of graves.
At present, Auckland Council schedules maintenance and rubbish collection once a year, unless called in by the friends of the cemetery for removal of dangerous items such as needles or human faeces.
Empty beer bottles litter the front of gravestones: Photo Quinn Plunkett
Christchurch resident Sue Burville, who has two relatives buried in the park, is concerned with the general state of the cemetery.
“In my personal opinion, it should be gated and shut at night.”
Tricia Reade says this would be difficult due to lack of funding and alternative places for the homeless to sleep.
“If you close it off, then people will jump over the fence.
“It's really difficult changing things right now with the cost of living and the number of people that are homeless. And that feeling is pretty hopeless.”
The Symonds Street Cemetery, now a public park, is a resting place for many of Auckland's early settlers, one of whom is former Governor William Hobson who signed Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Auckland Council’s reporting and planning lead Lynda Lucas admits the council remit includes the park but not the gravestones.
“Whereas council has the responsibility of making sure it's a lovely park and a great place to visit, we only have, we have very limited responsibility over the gravestones, other than to make sure that we provide a safe space for people up there.”
