The new extension may be all-but completed, but burial plots are still available in the original Ashburton Cemetery on Seafield Road, and residents are being advised these spaces need to be used first before moving onto the new extension.

The Ashburton District Council has built a new cemetery alongside the original to meet the town's remembrance needs for the next 40 years. Space has been filling up in the Ashburton Cemetery and the $1.5 million extension was a necessary investment.​

As word has spread about the new extension, the Council has been fielding enquiries to purchase plots in the area, however these will remain unavailable until the last remaining plots in the original cemetery have been used.

As well as providing remembrance​ space for a growing community, the extension is also designed to meet the needs of an increasingly culturally diverse one. It includes a natural burial site, a cremation and ashes scattering area, as  well as a traditional grave site.

Final touches are being tidied up at the new cemetery, including  fencing and gates, plantings and signage.