Whakatāne District Council's hunt for suitable land to establish a new cemetery has been unsuccessful so far.

The council announced through local media in March that it was looking for land to purchase for a new cemetery and asked landowners to come forward if they had suitable land available.

It estimates the Whakatāne district's primary cemetery at Hillcrest has space for 550 more burials and expects it to reach full capacity by 2028.

To cater for the needs of the community over the next 100 years, the council is ideally looking for between 11 and 17 hectares of predominantly flat or rolling land within 10 to 15 minutes' drive of the Whakatāne town centre.

'It's important that the land is not flood-prone and therefore elevated and away from the coast,” says community experience general manager Georgina Fletcher.

While Hillcrest is just one of the six cemeteries the council administers, Fletcher sys the others are rural cemeteries, limited in size, and further away from the district's main population, and therefore not suitable as alternatives once Hillcrest Cemetery has reached its capacity.

The new cemetery will also need to provide natural burial options, which has recently been offered at Hillcrest.

In a report to the council's projects and services committee meeting, Fletcher says no new suitable sites came forward from the publicity exercise and the council is still seeking land options.

Through assistance from specialist land agents Veros, two interested parties were identified but further discussions determined that neither option was viable.

The council has also considered the potential for using council land, which is currently a woodlot on the corner of Military Road, however following site investigations, in which a number of test pits were dug, it was established that the land was not suitable due to water conditions.

The council is now considering what the next options might be to ensure that land is acquired for a new cemetery within a suitable timeframe.

Fletcher urges elected members to utilise their own contacts to seek further land options.

She says in order for the necessary preparatory work to be completed on schedule, the land needs to be procured this year.

-Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air