By crikey, the Auckland Council is made up of a miserable bunch. Councillors are asking the public to comment on a proposed bylaw that would make it illegal for people to scatter their loved one's ashes in public places unless they have written approval and have paid the council an "applicable fee".
How mean can you get? If people want to take Dad out to sea and leave his ashes at his favourite fishing spot, if Mum has asked for her ashes to be strewn around the putting green where she scored her hole-in-one, if your husband wants to be released to the four winds and carried to every corner of the Earth, what business is it of councillors and how can they have the temerity to suggest that people must pay for the privilege?
Auckland Regulatory and Bylaws Committee chairman Calum Penrose is adamant that the council hasn't made a decision yet and is urging people to attend a hearing on the matter in two weeks.
But even suggesting a charge is absurd. Where is the cost incurred by council? Certainly, maintaining cemeteries is an expensive business and I have no problem with the council charging people to rent ground space for their loved ones.
But if you've gone from ashes to ashes, dust to dust, you're not taking up much room on the planet. You will be absorbed back into the environment and thus the cycle of life continues.
