GRIEVING relatives should no longer have to travel from Wangaratta to Albury or Melbourne for cremations, an Ovens Valley candidate said yesterday.
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Julian Fidge from the Australian Country Alliance said he wanted the state to pay for a crematorium in the city, or possibly Benalla.
Dr Fidge said he had previously brought up the matter while he was a Wangaratta councillor.
“The closest ones are in Albury or Fawkner in Melbourne,” he said.
“There is a definite lack of a crematorium and it means that families who have lost a loved one have to get in their car and drive all that way for a service.”
Dr Fidge said the council’s officers had claimed a survey revealed funeral homes did not see a need for a crematorium in the town.
“We allowed ourselves to be falsely reassured by that,” he said.
“But since then as part of my business as a doctor, I interact with the funeral homes when my patients die.
“They have made it very clear to me that the survey was nonsense and that the council never engaged with anyone involved in the trade.”
Dr Fidge said Wangaratta was a logical, central location.
But Wangaratta funeral director Glenn Bouchier said a feasibility study done by the Department of Human Services showed a crematorium in Wangaratta was not viable.
“There’s no doubt that it’s something that people would love to be here,” said Mr Bouchier, a director of Mason Park Funerals.
“But the study shows that if they built one here it wouldn’t turn a profit until around 2042.”
Mr Bouchier said he doubted people would have happy for their taxes to be used to pay for a crematorium running at a loss of $400,000 a year.
“That’s not my opinion, that’s just what this study says,” he said.
The study — Victorian Cremation Industry Viability — found a Wangaratta facility, as previously proposed by the council, was likely to be, at best, “marginally viable”.
It considered proposals for Horsham, Wangaratta and Shepparton.
Shepparton was found to be the “most likely prospect”, although it was unlikely to become viable for at least 20 years.
Dr Fidge said his proposal was for the state government to work with the council, ensuring a “proper survey” was done involving funeral directors in the town and nearby areas.
Dr Fidge said the council could play a role in requesting the funding to pay for building a crematorium.
“This is one of the basic needs that every community needs to have,” Dr Fidge said.
