Heathcote Cemetery

The Heathcote cemetery, established in 1854, is of historic significance and is the burial place of many of the region's people. It is of aesthetic significance for its layout, stonemasonry in the design of graves, cypress trees, and shelter building. The Heathcote cemetery is also of social significance as a place of reflection for many local people as well as those from further afield whose friends or relatives are buried there.

Heathcote Cemetery has been lovingly cared for by a group of local members of the community who came together as the Heathcote Cemetery Trust - a Class B Trust under Victorian legislation. The Trust Members are passionate about the cemetery and want to ensure that it endures as a calm and beautiful place of remembrance and reflection for generations to come.

In 2022, the Trust Members were advised that their grave-digging contractor could no longer operate in the cemetery. In addition, record keeping and regulatory compliance has become increasingly time consuming and onerous for Class B Trust volunteers. At this point in time, the Trust decided that the best course of action to protect and preserve Heathcote Cemetery would be to transfer responsibility for administrative and operational management to RPCV.

RPCV agreed to this proposal and has been managing the cemetery under an Agreement with the Trust for several years.

In recent months, the Trust has agreed to formalise this arrangement and wishes to apply to the government to abolish the Heathcote Cemetery Trust and transfer its responsibilities, assets and liabilities to RPCV.

In order to explain this process to the local Heathcote community and gather feedback on what is being proposed, the Trust is hosting a Community Information Session at the Heathcote RSL Hall on Tuesday, 8 April 2025 from 7.00pm.

If you would like to learn more, you are welcome to register for this event by emailing ea@rpcv.org.au by 31 March 2025.