Tara Murray
Families of people buried in Keilor Cemetery are calling for upgrades to drainage and paths after flooding on father’s day limited access to graves.
Enza Russell has launched a petition following a “distressing” father’s day visit to the cemetery with her mother, where access to her father’s and brother’s graves was hindered by flooding.
She said the flooding was as high as 20 centimetres in some areas of the old part of the cemetery.
“It was quite upsetting,” she said.
“Dad passed away in January and is buried next to my brother who died a number of years ago.
“There was a walkway near my brother’s grave, with the water really close.
“To walk to some of the other graves, there were planks of wood to get there.”
While Ms Russell and her mother were able to get to the graves, other people weren’t so lucky.
She said a lady with a walking stick was struggling to find a way to make her way through, while anyone who was in a wheelchair wouldn’t have had access.
“It’s very disappointing and depressing,” she said.
“People were dumbfounded and didn’t know how to get to their loved ones. The disregard for the people buried there just isn’t good enough. They’ve forgotten about the old part of the cemetery.”
Ms Russell said there needs to be better drainage at the cemetery, while also calling for proper paths to make it safer.
In a statement on its website, Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust – which runs Keilor Cemetery – said that measures would be considered to help combat the water pooling problem caused by significant rainfall.
Petition: ow.ly/3AZw50G58mM
