It comes after the trust came under fire amid complaints from the Shepparton and Bendigo communities after photos, ornaments and toys were removed from graves at cemeteries, including Pine Lodge.
More than 450 people completed the survey, while Remembrance Parks Central Victoria chief executive Lauretta Stace also met with individuals to discuss some of the topics relating to the 10 cemeteries the trust is responsible for.
Of all those who completed the survey, 24 per cent – or 102 responses – were by people with links to the Pine Lodge Cemetery.
Conversely, only two per cent of respondents had links to the Kialla West Cemetery – the only other Goulburn Valley cemetery run by the trust.
Among the survey findings were that 51 per cent of respondents had no issues with adornment removal, another 20 per cent were worried about it but had not had any adornments removed, and 18 per cent had adornments removed.
The survey found that more than 90 per cent of respondents agreed that fresh flowers, and artificial and dried flower arrangements should be allowed at the cemetery.
More than 50 per cent said ‘yes’ to items including teddy bears and soft toys, solar lights, photo frames, plastic and LED candles and wind chimes being allowed on graves.
More than 50 per cent said ‘no’ to degradable objects, candles and incense, decoration-free zones, fences, books, glass and items hanging in trees.
More than 80 per cent said no to items including alcohol, metal spikes, withered or damaged tributes, dead flowers, sharp-edged objects, items on pathways or garden beds, offensive items and items that intruded on other graves.
Ms Stace said it was the items that 80 per cent said ‘no’ to that the trust would look at the most closely.
“We’re not going to put in ‘banned’ items (in the policy), but the wording will be more about what you can do than what you can’t do,” she said.
Ms Stace said the trust would be saying it would not be encouraging people to place some items, and explain why that was.
The survey found that respondents favoured removing dead or wilted flowers and unsafe or broken items.
“We won’t do a wholesale removal of items. We would contact the people to help us remove items,” Ms Stace said.
Sixty per cent were also in favour of special ‘clean-up’ days or removal of seasonal adornments.
Ms Stace said it would be likely that the new adornment policy could contain items such as stipulating people would need to remove things like Christmas ornaments a certain amount of time after Christmas, such as by mid-January.
According to survey respondents, people were in favour of Remembrance Parks Central Victoria scheduling and promoting annual clean-up days or having a published schedule of key dates – such as Christmas or Mother’s Day – with a time-frame to add and then remove decorations from graves after they were no longer relevant.
It also found that Remembrance Parks Central Victoria should always provide adequate notice and clear communication about any future cemetery clean-ups.
Ms Stace said results were similar at all cemeteries under the trust’s control.
Now that the survey results are in, Ms Stace said Remembrance Parks Central Victoria would do a draft visitor guide for its cemeteries.
The draft guide is expected to be released for public comment at the end of January for a few weeks.
To read the full results of the consultation report, go to https://www.rpcv.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/RPCV-Community-Consultation-Report-Dec-2023.pdf
