Unkempt Campbells Hill Cemetery causes angst

Maureen Clements said she went to Campbell’s Hill Cemetery to visit her mother’s grave site for Easter and again last weekend for her mum’s birthday, but found the area severely overgrown with grass and weeds.

She vented her anger about the state of the Maitland Council-run cemetery on social media.

Ms Clements told Fairfax Media the apparent lack of care with the grounds was a mark of disrespect that she had not been subject to previously, since her mother passed away eight years ago.

“I had to fight my way to get to the grave and came home absolutely filthy,” she said.

“We literally had to walk across graves to get some water to put on the flowers.

“I went back [for her mother’s birthday] and it was just as horrendous. It was actually embarrassing to go there.

“It means total disrespect for our loved ones that are buried there. They built Maitland – there would be no Maitland without all these people that are in these cemeteries.

“I just find it very disrespectful of council to allow it to be like that.”

Maitland City infrastructure projects and building services manager Graeme Matthews said council understood that maintenance of cemeteries was important to residents.

“A recent period of extended rainfall, combined with warm weather, has meant the growth rate of grass at local cemeteries has increased,” he said.

“The extended wet conditions have also meant that the ground has often been too wet for ride on mowers and restricted mowing to hand mowers.

“Council contractors continue to work to keep up with maintenance under difficult conditions.”