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By James Peters

The Future of Dying in Kamloops

Council approves future plan for Hillside Cemetery, fee increases

Oct 20, 2020 | 4:17 PM

KAMLOOPS — Kamloops council has adopted changes to its Cemetery Master Plan that will guide changes to Hillside Cemetery over the next 30 years. That’s when the city’s primary graveyard is projected to reach capacity.

The only other active cemetery in Kamloops, Pleasant Street Cemetery, is already pre-booked to capacity.

Presenting at council’s regular meeting Tuesday (Oct. 20), Parks Planning and Operations Supervisor Mike Doll said there is still available land in the cemetery that can be landscaped for different purposes.

In years to come, Doll says City staff will add a double-sided columbarium, expand the mausoleum, add a scattering garden and pond and develop scenic viewpoints.

The plan also includes adding space for so-called ‘green’ burials, when a body is placed directly into the earth.

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According to the Green Burial Society of Canada, there are four approved green burial sites in B.C. – in Chilliwack, Parksville, Victoria and Surrey.

“There are lots of other cemeteries that are talking about adding them. I just got off the phone today with a fellow from Salmon Arm talking about that very subject,” Doll told council. “It seems to be a hot topic item right now and I’m really curious how successful that would be in the Kamloops market.”

In addition to the master plan, council also approved the first set of fee increases for cemetery services since 2015.

Fees will jump 25 per cent in 2021, followed by 2.5 per cent increases each year until 2030.

Doll says before the increases, local cemetery fees are about 25 per cent lower than similar B.C. cities.

“The goal of any cemetery is to break even, essentially. We don’t want the taxpayers to have to pay for the cemetery operations; it’s a user pay system,” said Doll. “That’s one of the reasons we’re proposing raising the fees today, so that burden doesn’t get transferred to the taxpayers.”