Gisborne District Council has proposed banning gang insignia on new headstones in Gisborne’s cemeteries under a new draft bylaw because of the Government’s gang patch ban.

Councillors approved a Cemeteries and Crematoria Bylaw to go out to public consultation next week.

Council strategic planning manager Charlotte Knight said Government legislation meant gang insignia were not permitted on headstones, but confirmed any gang insignia on headstones created before the Gangs Act 2024 was passed would not be affected.

Council chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann said the ban would include any headstones with gang insignia currently “in the pipeline”.

Councillor Josh Wharehinga said the council needed to contact families planning headstones with gang insignia on them “now” as they might be spending money on the headstones.

A review of the council’s bylaw around cemeteries last year found an outright ban on gang insignia was likely to be controversial and could infringe on rights under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (BORA), based on examples of bans undertaken by other councils around the country before the Gangs Act 2024 came into force.

Controversial efforts in Wairoa to ban gang insignia on headstones in 2022 were toned down after consultation, the eventual new bylaw only stipulating that monuments must be aesthetically acceptable to the council, without specific mention of gangs.

Since then, the Government passed the Gangs Act 2024 which bans the display of gang patches in public places and provides extra tools to target gang-related crime and intimidation.

Other matters discussed at Friday’s meeting included whānau who wanted to put ashes into existing family plots with memorial plaques.

Councillor Aubrey Ria said this needed to be encouraged as the cemetery was getting water-logged and was running out of space.

Councillor Ani Pahuru-Huriwai said keeping families together (in cemeteries) was now more common and was ideal.

The water table was causing massive grief for families.

Cr Wharehinga said the “plaque idea” was not officially part of the consultation process, but the council could consider having a “discussion”.

He believed the community would support the idea, and it would be good to “attach” the idea to policy and not have to wait years.

Some councillors expressed concern about the legal meaning of certain wording and the interpretation of words such as “offensive” or “appropriate” in the bylaw draft.

Cr Teddy Thompson said the term offensive images could refer to boxing.

Knight said the bylaw was more directed at hate speech but could be clarified to exclude sporting images.

Cr Rawinia Parata said council staff should be able to determine what was offensive based on the “context on which it is admitted”.

Proposed bylaw changes include:

• Burials will not occur on any public holiday.
• Suspension of burials will be allowed when the ground conditions are not suitable during and after emergency weather events.
• More specific rules for aesthetic requirements of monuments.
• Explicit rules governing physical works in cemeteries.
• The current out-of-district fee for babies under 1 year old and stillborn babies will be removed.
• Opening hours of cemeteries will be removed. Instead of being recorded in the bylaw, opening hours will be listed on the council’s website and other accessible forms of communication.
• Cultural supervision of the digging of graves is allowed upon request and under supervision.
• There will be changes to rules managing animals in cemeteries. Currently, the bylaw prohibits animals in cemeteries at night and requires animals to be under control at other times. The council is proposing to simplify and strengthen this by clarifying that grazing in cemeteries is prohibited unless there is prior council permission. Dogs in cemeteries are subject to requirements under the council’s Dog Control Bylaw and cemetery staff can request any animal is removed.

Public consultation will be held between February 4 and March 5 via a “chat with a councillor” rather than a formal hearing.

A bylaw hearing panel, with a deliberations report, will be held in April/May.

The current bylaw expires on June 26 and the council is due to adopt the deliberations report in June.