Today my sister and I visited the Bight Cemetery where my mother and father are buried along with much earlier members of the Cameron family who were very early settlers on the Manning River. This is one of the oldest cemeteries on the Manning River.
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At first we thought the cemetery had been attacked by vandals but then we read the notice on the gate and found this was the work of the council.
Many headstones have been removed from their mount and laid down - some of them being damaged beyond repair in the process. This is apparently a safety measure.
Here is my father's grave (pictured, on right). His headstone is quite short - less than 40 centimetres high - and has seemed sturdy and well attached in all the times my sister leans on it as she cleans the grave. We fail to see how it could possibly be a safety hazard.
Even smaller pieces of headstones have been detached. The photo shows a piece less than 15cm that has been broken from the top of a gravestone. Very old gravestones have been removed from their mounts. This is one of our family but many will not have surviving relatives to repair this damage.
In the meantime a lovely little cemetery looks like a war zone.
Even more worrying, some old headstones have been damaged beyond repair.
Wynne Austin, Canberra, and Catherine Potts, Bonny Hills
Editor's note:
MidCoast Council are suspending their monument risk assessment following negative feedback from the community as reported on July 27, 2019.
