Rubbish, overgrown weeds, fallen branches and smashed graves are just part of the unsightly mess blighting Footscray Cemetery, according to the son of a man buried there.
Eddie Vrhowec said he had become fed up with the state of the cemetery, with little seeming to have been done since he raised his concerns with its management.
“The cemetery is really littered – there is rubbish and fallen branches over many of the paths,” he said. “I went there yesterday and there is builder’s rubbish there and it looks like they’ve just smashed up an old grave a couple of metres away from where my father is.”
Mr Vrhowec said a large piece of plyboard had been resting against his father’s grave since before Christmas.
He said the cemetery is in a far worse state than others around Melbourne where he visits the graves of other family members.
Mr Vrhowec said the situation has become so bad he had been forced to take the matter into his own hands.
“I am a retired landscape gardener so I took all my tools down to clean up,” he said.
“It’s been going on for years and years – it’s unbelievable.”
Footscray Cemetery, on Princes Highway in Yarraville, is a year shy of being 150 years old, with the first burial taking place there in 1869.
The Greater Metropolitan Cemeteries Trust (GMCT) took over management and day-to-day running of the cemetery from Maribyrnong council last May.
GMCT communications acting manager Leigh Funston said regular maintenance was conducted at all GMCT memorial parks and cemeteries.
“Further, our sites are subject to ongoing horticultural audits,” he said. “Recent unusual weather conditions this summer season have contributed to very strong plant growth in our gardens and surrounds.”
Mr Funston said feedback on the cemetery could be lodged on 1300 022 298 or sent to enquiries@gmct.com.au.
