Table 5 Heritage significance assessment – cemetery overview

• Wyee Cemetery established in 1892 as the cemetery for the village and the surrounding district maintains this role into present day. The cemetery illustrates the village’s initial reliance on the timber industry and railway to its to its current role as a semi-rural residential area. It demonstrates the pattern of development of a rural general cemetery.

The layout of the cemetery and the style of headstones demonstrates the evolution of burial practices over the twentieth century. The cemetery with its modest headstones and uniformity in style reflect little social division in what has remained a largely working-class community.

Table 5 Heritage significance assessment – cemetery overview

Cemetery Criteria

(a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) Historical Associative Technical Aesthetic/ Social Research Rarity Represent - intactness Integrity /

Belmont Cemetery Y Y N Y Y N Y Y

Catherine Hill Bay Cemetery

Johnston (Barnsley) Family Cemetery Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y

Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y

Morisset Cemetery Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y

Martinsville Pioneer Cemetery Y Y N Y Y N Y Y

Toronto Cemetery Y Y N Y Y Y Y Y

West Wallsend Cemetery Y Y Y Y Y N Y Y

Whitebridge Cemetery Y Y N Y Y N Y Y

Wyee Cemetery Y Y N Y Y N Y Y

6. CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES

6.1.1 The LMCC cemeteries are affected by statutory controls and non-statutory registers and procedural documents (See: Opportunities arising using research and heritage focussed technology to identify potential burial spaces

Research using early sexton records, State Archives (Morisset Hospital patients), church registers, etc. together with the use of GPR technology, or similar technology, may be a viable option to identify unmarked graves and areas of potential burial space. Statutory controls - Heritage Section 6.3.3; Statutory controls - Other Section 6.5; and Relevant nonstatutory Section 6.6). Those controls, registers and document place constraints and obligations on how heritage items are managed.

6.2 CONSTRAINTS

6.2.1 Constraints arising from cultural significance

The listing of an item on the local, State or National heritage register entails an obligation for current and future managers to conserve the significance of that item. Of the nine cemeteries, three –Belmont, Morisset and Wyee Cemeteries were unlisted, the remaining are listed as significant at the local level, while Catherine Hill Bay Cemetery, is included in the State heritage listed, Catherine Hill Bay Cultural Heritage Precinct. The assessment carried out to inform this CMP found that Belmont, Morisset and Wyee Cemeteries are significant at the local level and warrant inclusion in the LEP, with the relevant statutory requirements in Section 6.3.3 applicable.

The Burra Charter

Best practice in conservation should be undertaken in line with the Burra Charter Articles. Article 2. Conservation and management • Places of cultural significance should be conserved. • The aim of conservation is to retain the cultural significance of a place. • Conservation is an integral part of good management of places of cultural significance. • Places of cultural significance should be safeguarded and not put at risk or left in a vulnerable state.

This means that the significance of cemeteries should be understood to ensure retention of their value. Maintenance should be of a standard to ensure the cemetery is not put at risk or made vulnerable.

Article 3. Cautious approach

• Conservation is based on a respect for the existing fabric, use, associations and meanings. It requires a cautious approach of changing as much as necessary but as little as possible. • Changes to a place should not distort the physical or other evidence it provides, nor be based on conjecture. This means that the significance of fabric, features, etc. should be understood and due care taken with conservation works.

Article 4. Knowledge, skills and techniques • Conservation should make use of all the knowledge, skills and disciplines which can contribute to the study and care of the place. This means that a wide range of skillsets and expertise are required and should be enlisted to successfully manage conservation works.

Article 5. Values

• Conservation of a place should identify and take into consideration all aspects of cultural and natural significance without unwarranted emphasis on any one value at the expense of others. • Relative degrees of cultural significance may lead to different conservation actions at a place. This means that due consideration should be given to the level of significance, an item significant at the State level requires a higher degree of conservation. A cautious approach is needed as understanding of cultural significance may change over time. Article 6. Burra Charter Process

• The cultural significance of a place and other issues affecting its future are best understood by a sequence of collecting and analysing information before making decisions. Understanding cultural significance comes first, then development of policy and finally management of the place in accordance with the policy. This is the Burra Charter Process. This CMP has been developed in accordance with the Burra Charter Process. Volume 1 draws on the information obtained during a detailed assessment of the cemeteries (Volume 2) with an appropriate level of recording providing base line data (Volume 3). Article 7. Use

• Where the use of a place is of cultural significance it should be retained. For a cemetery, retention of significance is linked to its role as burial place. Whether it has been closed or remains open that role remains. In previous decades, the clearing of headstones and creation of parks from areas that were cemeteries has destroyed the significance of the place. Article 8. Setting • Conservation requires the retention of an appropriate setting. This includes retention of the visual and sensory setting, as well as the retention of spiritual and other cultural relationships that contribute to the cultural significance of the place. New construction, demolition, intrusions or other changes which would adversely affect the setting or relationships are not appropriate. The area around a cemetery, its setting, is an important feature and should be retained. The role as a cemetery for meditation and reflection should not be compromised by inappropriate development. Article 16. Maintenance

• Maintenance is fundamental to conservation. Maintenance should be undertaken where fabric is of cultural significance and its maintenance is necessary to retain that cultural significance.

Maintenance of cemetery features (headstones, grave surrounds, etc) should be undertaken, as required, to ensure retention of significance. Article 22. New work

• New work such as additions or other changes to the place may be acceptable where it respects and does not distort or obscure the cultural significance of the place or detract from its interpretation and appreciation. • New work should be readily identifiable as such but should respect and have minimal impact on the cultural significance of the place. While ongoing use of operational cemeteries is necessary any new development should be sympathetic to the character of the cemetery. Article 24. Retaining associations and meanings

• Significant associations between people and a place should be respected, retained and not obscured. Opportunities for the interpretation, commemoration and celebration of these associations should be investigated and implemented. • Significant meanings, including spiritual values, of a place should be respected. Opportunities for the continuation or revival of these meanings should be investigated and implemented. Cemeteries often retain strong ongoing connections for relatives, friends and descendants of those buried. That connection should be acknowledged through consultation. The support of ‘friends of’ groups, in addition to developing links with interested groups such as genealogists and local history societies should be encouraged. Article 27. Managing change • The impact of proposed changes, including incremental changes, on the cultural significance of a place should be assessed with reference to the statement of significance and the policy for managing the place. It may be necessary to modify proposed changes to better retain cultural significance. • Existing fabric, use, associations and meanings should be adequately recorded before and after any changes are made to the place. The statement of significance developed for each cemetery should inform any development proposals. Any works should ensure that cultural significance is retained with works in line with the heritage values of the cemetery. Article 32. Records

• The records associated with the conservation of a place should be placed in a permanent archive and made publicly available, subject to requirements of security and privacy, and where this is culturally appropriate. • Records about the history of a place should be protected and made publicly available, subject to requirements of security and privacy, and where this is culturally appropriate. Cemetery inscriptions may be one of the few remaining written records pertaining to a person. Original documents such as sextant’s lists, cemetery plans, etc. should be retained and maintained and with due care regarding privacy made available at Lake Macquarie Library – Local History unit the most appropriate repository.

6.2.2 Constraints arising from Lake Macquarie Council requirements

Financial and human resources

Employee resources for administrating LMCC cemeteries is currently one full time employee. Cemetery maintenance occurs in a six-weekly cycle with additional services (where available) for Mother’s and Father’s Day, Christmas, Easter and Anzac Day. Maintenance requirements include mowing, brush cutting, weeding, spraying and path upkeep. The demand for services escalates in line with population growth in the city. Several cemeteries have “informal Friends of” groups who assist with maintenance and open/close gates.

Shortage of future burial sites

Recent reports, most significantly The 11th Hour. Solving Sydney’s Cemetery Crisis (Whitella 2020), highlights the crisis facing Sydney cemeteries regarding available burial spaces. The current interment availability of Lake Macquarie cemeteries is detailed in Table 6. In Lake Macquarie cemeteries, many sites can accommodate up to two and in some cases three body interments. Ashes can also be interred in these sites, which encourages sustainability, with the family only using one plot. With the cremation rate in the Hunter over (70% - CCNSW 2016), council