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Burial and Cremation Act 1964

Establishment, maintenance, and regulation of cemeteries

16: Bylaws

You could also call this:

"Rules for Cemeteries"

Illustration for Burial and Cremation Act 1964

A local authority can make bylaws for a cemetery. You can think of bylaws like rules that help keep the cemetery nice and safe. These rules can be about things like maintaining the cemetery or controlling the times when burials can happen. A local authority can make rules about graves, vaults, and monuments in the cemetery. They can decide how many bodies can be buried in one grave. They can also make rules about burying ashes or moving bodies from one place to another, as long as they follow section 51. Local authorities must make these bylaws in the same way they would make bylaws under the Local Government Act 2002. They can also set fines for people who break these rules, but the fines cannot be more than 50 pounds for a one-time breach. If someone keeps breaking a rule, they can be fined up to 5 pounds for each day they continue to break it.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM355464.

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Topics:
Housing and property > Home safety and repairsHousing and property > Land useGovernment and voting > Local councils
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15: Burial of members of His Majesty's Forces, etc, or

"Special cemetery rules for armed forces members and their families"

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17: Copies of bylaws, or

"Getting copies of cemetery rules"

Part 1Establishment, maintenance, and regulation of cemeteries

16Bylaws

  1. A local authority may in respect of any cemetery, or, so far as is applicable, any closed cemetery under its control, make bylaws for all or any of the following purposes:

  2. maintaining, preserving, and embellishing the cemetery or closed cemetery:
    1. directing the positions of all graves and vaults in the cemetery, the depths of the graves, and the construction of coffins to be admitted into vaults, and the covering of vaults so as to prevent the escape of any noxious exhalation in the cemetery:
      1. protecting buildings, monuments, lawns, shrubberies, plantations, and enclosures in the cemetery or closed cemetery from destruction or damage:
        1. prohibiting the burial in any grave of more than 1 body or prescribing conditions subject to which more than 1 body may be buried in any grave:
          1. controlling or restricting the times at which or between which burials may be carried out:
            1. regulating the burial in the cemetery of the ashes of the dead:
              1. subject to section 51, regulating and restricting the disinterment and removal of bodies:
                1. fixing a scale of fees payable in respect of any grave or vault dug or made, and any monument or tablet erected or placed, in the cemetery, and in respect of any agreements to maintain graves:
                  1. prescribing fines for the breach of any such bylaw not exceeding 50 pounds in any case, and, where the breach is a continuing one, not exceeding 5 pounds for every day or part of a day during which the breach has continued:
                    1. any of the matters referred to in section 9 or in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), or (e) of section 59.

                      1. All bylaws made by a local authority under this Act shall be made in the same manner in all respects as if they were bylaws made pursuant to the Local Government Act 2002.

                      Compare
                      • 1908 No 19 ss 22, 30A(1), 56(1)(c)
                      • 1922 No 36 s 4
                      Notes
                      • Section 16(2): amended, on , by section 262 of the Local Government Act 2002 (2002 No 84).