Do you remember what you had to consider when you bought your first home? The price, the suburb, were you close to family, is it somewhere you want to spend the rest of your life? Well the same thing applies to where you are going to spend your afterlife.
If you want to buried close to other deceased family members, if you don’t want your surviving family members to travel far to pay their respects, if you don’t want your family to bear the financial burden of a funeral then you really need to start thinking about buying a plot.
According to a report issued by the Department of Health’s Cemeteries and Crematoria, by 2035, nearly 50 per cent of all metropolitan cemetery reserves will have been consumed. That’s equivalent to 769,441 plots or 346 hectares of current cemetery reserves. It is estimated that cemeteries such as Melbourne, Moonee Valley, Bayside, Yarra Ranges and Knox will have no remaining plots available in 25 years.
And with the ageing population in Melbourne, this is an area of concern, but for the Greek community who desire to be buried close to other relatives and close to their family home, this is even more concerning.
Members of the Greek community are actively buying plots from now with funeral director Chris Stamelos of Victoria Funerals saying that 50 per cent of his Greek clients have already bought plots. But is this something we should be thinking about, I mean, isn’t it depressing to think about where you are going to be buried?
“It’s common sense,” says Mr Stamelos, “We are all going to die; trying to avoid the situation or the fact is plain silly.”
Mr Stamelos told me that he has already bought his plot, but not only that, his teenage children have theirs too. Smart thinking or plain morbid?
Whatever the case the fact remains that the only certainties in life are death and taxes. And with the facts put so simply – that there is no room to bury the ageing population – the only solution is to get in early and buy that plot.
“It’s really important to consider now where you want to be [buried],” says Rebecca Atkins Communications Brand Manager of Southern Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust.
As it stands, three people can be buried in one plot. Before the first person is buried, you need to think about who else wants to buried there. It’s more common for married couples to be buried together. A three person grave is common when a child has died before the parents, or they have a sick or in some cases disabled child. If you decide after the first burial that you want to make the plot for three people, this too can be done, but it can be an expensive process as the first burial needs to be exhumed to dig the grave deeper.
Ms Atkins told me that Springvale for example has only 25 years left of burial stock available. But added that buying a plot early isn’t just ensuring you get buried where you want, near other deceased relatives, there’s the price factor to consider too.
“We definitely encourage people to pre-purchase [their plot] because the price goes up by three per cent every year as a minimum,” Ms Atkins said. This sentiment is echoed by Mr Stamelos who encourages his Greek clients to pre-purchase their plot to save on price increases every year.
An average plot in Victoria will set you back over $2000, and with prices increasing each year by three per cent, it makes financial sense to pre-purchase. But this cost, buys you the plot alone, and the funeral services and internment (the digging of the grave) will be charged when you get buried.
“If you buy [a plot] at today’s prices, you are not only securing what you want, you are also making sure your family don’t have to think about it at the time and you are easing the burden on them but also you will save a lot of money,” says Ms Atkins.
The steep price of burial, and the lack of space, is turning more people towards the option of cremation. In Victoria alone, the number of cremations has increased. But as it stands, the Greek Orthodox Church’s stance is that they are opposed to cremation, however, some priests will conduct the funeral service in the church but will not attend the crematorium.
“The official line is they don’t cremate,” says Mr Stamelos, “but unofficially they do allow it, but you need to get permission from the bishop.
“I think the next generation of the Greek Orthodox Church will have to rethink [their decision not to attend a cremation] and allow it because of price and also availability of land.”
Before 2035, it is estimated that 11 metropolitan cemeteries in Victoria will have exhausted their availability. To combat this, the Victorian government has purchased land in Melton and Whittlesea to combat the issue of the lack of burial space. The new Melton premises, if approved as a cemetery, will feature around 330,000 plots. Another way cemeteries find more space is through unclaimed plots.
“If someone hasn’t made their end of life wishes and plans very clear and documentation hasn’t been shared with family, and the family bury them somewhere else, they can transfer the holder of rights or they can sell it back to the cemetery,” explains Ms Atkins.
For the Greek community, Ms Atkins refers to the new cemetery at Bunurong Memorial Park, which has 100 years of burial stock available. With a Greek church on site, and a dedicated Greek area, this is an option for those of us who are religious. But if you want a plot near Saint Lazarus Greek Orthodox Church, in Section One close to the church, be prepared to pay $18,095 for the right to enjoy your final resting place.
Whatever you decide, to buy now or risk being buried out far away or have to resort to cremation due to costs, you better get onto it now, because in the case of land availability for graves in metropolitan Melbourne, the plot certainly thickens.