Tanya Davies MP, Member for Badgerys Creek encourages you to sign and share a petition by Chloe Kessell calling on the NSW Government to review cemetery regulations across NSW to better support grieving families and to consider legislation protecting families’ rights to memorialise their loved ones with personal touches, such as garden ornaments, and artificial flowers.
Cemeteries should be places of peace and reflection, allowing families to honour their loved ones in meaningful ways. However, many cemeteries, including Pinegrove Memorial Park, enforce restrictive policies—such as “fresh flowers only” rules—that place unnecessary financial and emotional burdens on grieving families.
At Pinegrove, personal garden ornaments and artificial flowers lovingly placed by families are routinely removed and discarded, leaving graves bare and impersonal. While these actions are often justified under the guise of maintenance and safety, they make families feel unwelcome and deny them the ability to create a unique, comforting space for remembrance.
The “fresh flowers only” policy is particularly difficult, as it becomes costly for families to maintain, often resulting in graves left without any tribute at all. Artificial flowers and garden ornaments provide a lasting and affordable way for families to pay their respects without the financial strain of continuously replacing fresh flowers.
To view and sign the petition, please visit the following link:
https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/Pages/ePetition-details.aspx?q=IQwonrY96tkGspfxBuQkcA