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Thursday, 21 December, 2017
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A grave matter The Pakenham Cemetery Trust has been criticised for what distraught families are describing as their “cold and callous” actions. Families visiting their late loved ones this week were shocked when greeted with a sea of bright yellow signs hammered in around headstones which read: “Unauthorised items, must be removed within two weeks”. Grieving mother Debra Leys, whose son died suddenly in his Pakenham home at the age of 29 in June this year, was told by management that all items that were not cemented down by Boxing Day would be thrown away. “They had hammered three of those signs into all the beautiful items that I had on Jason’s grave,” Ms Leys said through tears. “Not only that, but they had pulled all of them out and thrown them over his plaque. “I had a small plant, roses in his favourite colour and solar lights because he was scared of the dark as a boy, all of which I have to remove. “One lady has eight relatives buried there and she was greeted with eight signs on all graves.” Fresh flowers, small statues, plants and toys are all among the cemetery’s list of ‘unauthorised’ items. The changes come only a week before Christmas, a time where the loss of a family member or friend is felt the most. “What a time to do this to families who are grieving for not having their loved ones with
them this year for Christmas. “This will be our first Christmas without our son, and they’re telling me I can’t even put down fresh flowers? “I find the timing so wrong - it’s cold and callous.” The changes came without warning, and Ms Leys worries that there may be families who might not see the signs until it’s too late. “The time it took to print the notices out and stick them in every grave is probably the same amount of time it would have taken to call the families and tell them what’s happening. “They have all of our phone numbers and addresses, yet we had no warning. “They should have done this a better way.” After noticing muddy tyre marks over a couple of nearby graves, families suspect that the cemetery trust want to make it easier to mow the lawns. “There are skid marks over nearby plaques where they have clearly driven right over the top of them. “We all think they want to clear everything up so they can just mow over them instead of going around. “Some families have been coming here for over 20 years and there’s never been a problem before. “There’s no explanation and no apology it’s just wrong.” When approached for comment on this story, the cemetery trust declined.
A sea of yellow signs notify families that items such as fresh flowers are "unauthorised". 176368
Grieving mother Debra Leys is shocked by the cemetery's actions. 176368
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