17 August 2022

South Wairarapa District Council has launched a new service which will make life easier for those visiting our cemeteries.

PlotBox is a cemetery management system used by many councils here and overseas.

By clicking on the PlotBox link on our cemetery page, users will be able to easily search for the location of a loved one’s plot and be guided to it on the map provided.

PlotBox has also allowed the Council to upgrade its cemetery management systems and digitise the original plot records, many of which are quite historic.

South Wairarapa District Council operates four cemeteries – Featherston, Greytown, Martinborough and the closed Waihinga cemetery.

Council staff spent many months painstakingly going through often decades-old records to check the names, details and other information associated with the plots and loading them into the PlotBox database.

PlotBox’s General Manager APAC, Martin Jackson, said the new programme would make South Wairarapa’s cemetery services more accessible.

“We are delighted to be able to help South Wairarapa District Council with a solution that will help to unlock the rich history held by its cemeteries, and provide unprecedented online access to both local residents and those further afield.

“Linking deceased records to interactive, high resolution maps provides an opportunity to reconnect with loved ones and discover family histories in new and innovative ways. We’re very grateful to be part of such a forward-thinking, community-focused initiative.”

Stefan Corbett, the Council’s group manager of operations and partnerships, said PlotBox was part of an ongoing modernisation of the Council’s IT systems to provide more responsive services to the South Wairarapa Community.   

“It will also make it easier and faster for people to explore the process of reserving a plot,” he said.

If you encounter a plot detail that you think is not correct, please contact enquiries@swdc.govt.nz and it will be passed along to our amenities team.