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Cemetery Trust receives first 2001/2002 Council grant The Hazelwood Cemetery Trust is the first community organisation to receive one of the 2001/2002 community grants being made by Latrobe City Council By Latrobe City Council - 13th December 2001 - Back to News The Hazelwood Cemetery Trust is the first community organisation to receive one of the 2001/2002 community grants being made by Latrobe City Council. The $3500 Minor Capital Grant has been provided by Council for the construction of a new fence in the south-east corner of the cemetery.
Chairman of the Hazelwood Cemetery Trust, Mr Jack Willis, said the completion of the new fence would enhance the Roman Catholic section of the cemetery, replacing dilapidated fencing and enclosing the grounds in keeping with other boundaries.
"The ‘top fence’ as we call it is the latest project being undertaken by the Cemetery Trust to improve and update facilities in this very special place. It follows improvements to drainage and roads made possible through previous community grants and ongoing Council funding for maintenance," Mr Willis said.
Latrobe City Mayor, Councillor Brendan Jenkins, said it was obvious from the condition of the cemetery, that the Trustees placed great value on the upkeep and beautification of the environs.
"This is not only a special facility that provides the community with a place to mourn and remember departed loved ones, but an historic reference to the early district settlers and more recent arrivals. It is a microcosm of Latrobe’s ongoing heritage, a record of numerous families and individuals who have contributed to today’s society, and their memorials often pay tribute to their legacies and philosophies," Councillor Jenkins said.
Mr Willis said that, set in peaceful and rural surrounds, overlooking the Hazelwood Pondage, the Hazelwood Cemetery had a well-documented history, dating from days when residents of Hazelwood, Maryvale and Morwell applied to have a cemetery site put aside on the original Hazelwood to Morwell Road.
"Records show that a child was buried on the site in September 1878, but it is likely that other burials took place before the site was officially declared a cemetery, and before records were kept. More than 2800 burials have taken place since its foundation," Mr Willis said.
"There is a perception that this is not a currently operational cemetery, but nothing could be further from the truth. As well as adequate space for burial sites for all denominations, in what could be described as peaceful and idyllic surroundings, the Cemetery Trust has recently installed an ash garden and created a special ‘children’s area’, dedicated to infants who were stillborn or who died shortly after birth," Mr Willis said.
Cr Darrell White said that for years it was common practice to inter infants who died in such circumstances in unmarked graves, but attitudes have changed and the Trust has embraced those changes.
"Credit must go to the gardener/curator Louis Zandona and the Trustees who have created this caring and poignant memorial," Cr White said.
Mr Willis said the taboos associated with recognising stillbirths or children who died before baptism had been put aside. "Parents can now mourn for their lost children, and it is a very essential part of the grieving process and psychological adjustment," Mr Willis said.
The Hazelwood Cemetery Trust can be contacted through the Secretary, Sue Culliver, telephone 5133 9183.
Source: www.gippsland.com Published by: latrobecity@gippslander.com
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