Panmure cemetery is set to benefit from a Brumby Government funding boost the Member for Western Victoria, Gayle Tierney announced today.
The Brumby Government has provided the money for maintenance grants to small and medium-sized Victorian cemetery trusts, Ms Tierney said.
Ms Tierney said ten cemetery trusts State-wide will share $72,776 in grants, including Panmure Cemetery Trust which received $8,260 for the construction of a footpath and weed eradication.
“These grants are for small rural cemeteries with little maintenance money and will be used for essential items such as equipment, general upkeep, facility renovations, fencing and tree and weed control,” Ms Tierney said.
Ms Tierney said other grants made to small rural cemeteries range from $596 for the maintenance of a fence at Buangor Cemetery Trust to $10,000 for Greta Cemetery Trust to build a new rotunda..
Ms Tierney said these grants also recognise the voluntary contribution of cemetery trust members.
“The Government was able to meet the majority of requests for maintenance through these grants,” she said.
Applications were assessed on the nature of works, the size and viability of the cemetery trust, whether it had received a grant in recent years and on other financial considerations.
Ms Tierney said the grants would be particularly helpful to small historical cemeteries in areas where populations had declined and there were few new burials.
“These grants will help maintain the integrity and structure of cemeteries which are often used for genealogical and historical research.
“Currently there are 522 cemetery trusts throughout Victoria managing 564 public cemeteries,” Ms Tierney said.
“The Brumby Government values the contribution of the thousands of volunteer members of small rural cemeteries across Victoria.”
In 2008 the Government took action to support and maintain small volunteer cemetery trusts and ensure that these organisations could continue their valuable work.