Waipori Cemetery
Can a cemetery become a fishing lodge? When will a burial ground provide a clubhouse? Surely the very epitome of hallucination one might say. Apparently not so in the case of the secluded and historically sited burial ground overlooking Lake Mahinerangi.
It seems some fifty years ago a hut or two of a basic and spartan nature were transported from Waipori Falls to this site. Sporadically used as a racemens' humble abode. The departure of that era and the sensitivity of the site deemed the hut remains lie as is or be removed.
However therein lies a story. With the arrival on the scene of a new breed of racemen in the form of the sportsman and the entrepreneur. The huts have become one - then blown or burnt down and transformed into a magnificent double-storied edifice. Diverse backgrounds are muted to be involved in this new found utopian venture. Semi-redundant builders, administration rodents, unemployed bus conductors, defrocked archbishops and the like - undernourished insurance brokers, local squatters - even a redundant shearer's rep. Few stratas are unrepresented as the enterprise gathers speed.
Unfortunately, possibly oblivious to the unintended desecration of the spirits of this sacred burial ground, these perpetrators, like many of their ilk throughout history may well be beset with ill health, misfortune, even death.
The local community board has led the charge to stem this lawless lot and decreed this abomination should be removed forthwith, and rightly so!
Circumstances surrounding the granting of a permit for a building of such magnitude on such a hallowed site appear extremely unclear and obscure. The tenure of the land clearly doesn't lay with the "occupants". The farcical non-payment of rates by these "newborn" cemetery trustee caretakers brings little joy to the average struggling ratepayer.
The user pays dogma has been laid to rest amongst the n'er forgotten dead around or perhaps even underneath the phoenix, miraculously risen from the ashes of hut remains.
Heritage and cultural guardians are in angst as well they might be.
With this thought-provoking cemetrial precedent, is the sacred burial ground soon to become the precinct of the supermarket, gas station, saddle shop, pawnbroker or massage parlour? The list goes on as opportunities extend - all operating in a rate-free panacea of enlightenment and security. Soon authorities up and down the country will cringe as they attempt to stem the tide of commercial ventures taking root in the "rate-free" sanctury of the burial ground.
Will legislation be adopted to allow more ratepayers to acquire 'burial ground' status, allowing participation in this newfound rate-free bonanza? Will it be said this fools paradise will find accommodation in the hearts of the free-loader, the slovenly of thought, and the lunatic fringe?
Little intelligence is needed to recognise the magnitude of which this dilemma appears to be.
Is national ridicule looming? Full marks to the local community board in their resolve to evict.
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