Cemeteries and memorials

Cemeteries and memorials are spaces of cultural, historical, and community importance.

Council manages 11 cemeteries across Eurobodalla, each with its own unique characteristics. Burials are offered at 8 operating cemeteries, and inurnment walls are available at Nelligen, Batemans Bay, Moruya and Narooma.

You can apply to Council to install a commemorative memorial seat, and you can contact memorial gardens directly.

You can apply for a commemorative memorial seat to be installed:

  • to commemorate individuals who lived in or had a significant association with the Eurobodalla shire and have now passed away
  • in a public space owned and identified by Council (such as a park, garden, or other public area)
  • with a design selected at the discretion of Council
  • with the applicant covering the cost of installation and fees.

Newly installed seats are Council property, so Council employees and contractors will carry out the installation work and maintenance.

Memorial seats are maintained for 10 years, though Council may relocate the seat within this 10 years if necessary (eg if it is damaged beyond repair or the area is undergoing significant redevelopment).

After 10 years, any memorial plaques are removed and the seat will be repurposed as a public bench.

For full details, please read our memorial seat policy.

How to apply

To request a memorial seat, please read our memorial seat policy, which includes details about eligibility, location and relocation, design, cost, installation.

Once you have read the policy, if would like to proceed, please complete and return the memorial seat application form:

Memorial gardens are not managed by Council. Please contact the gardens directly:

Operating cemeteries

Our operating cemeteries are located in:

Non-operating cemeteries

We also maintain three non-operational cemeteries that are open to visitors:

  • MacLean Place, Moruya
  • Dwyers Creek Road (historical), Moruya
  • Point Parade, Congo

We're upgrading Narooma Cemetery to allow for ongoing use. This work involves increasing capacity and improving usability, to better serve our community's needs.

We plan to create:

  • space for additional standard burial and lawn cemetery plots
  • new inurnment walls
  • extra parking areas
  • accessible pathways to the inurnment wall area

The work involves vegetation clearing, earthworks, and construction.

Starting in December 2024, the project will progress gradually over several years as resources become available.

We’ll ensure there’s no work during services or burials, but visitors outside those times might experience some impacts.

We’ve prepared a Review of Environmental Factors to assess potential impacts related to the project's activities.

We keep a register of all burials since the mid-1970s. These records are available to the community free of charge and our depot staff can help customers with enquiries about particular individuals.

In the past, individual churches managed and recorded burials in their area. Over time, through mishap, the churches lost many of those records.

In 2020, Council engaged an experienced heritage consultant to complete a Historic Cemeteries Conservation Management Study. The study examined 50 cemeteries, lone burial sites, and memorials in Eurobodalla. It contains many historical burial records that had previously been missing.

The Historic Cemeteries Conservation Management Study investigated the heritage significance of historic cemeteries in Eurobodalla in order to contribute to their future planning, conservation, and management.

It contains an inventory of 50 cemeteries, lone burial sites, and memorials, including the 35 listed in the Eurobodalla Local Environmental Plan 2012 and 14 others of historical interest. The study includes comments on their significance and condition, and makes recommendations on their management.

The study was prepared for Council by an experienced heritage consultant, with support from Eurobodalla residents and three historical societies. It was adopted by Council on 20 May 2020.

Contact us

For information about reservations, burials, fees, monument permits and burial records at Council-managed cemeteries, please phone the nearest depot:

  • Batemans Bay depot: 02 4472 4035
  • Moruya depot: 02 4474 1391
  • Narooma depot: 02 4476 4144

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