Widow terrified she will be unable to be buried subsequent to her husband as a result of environmental restrictions
A widow is terrified she cannot be buried beside her husband of nearly 50 years on their property due to environmental restrictions.
Gaye Wheatley, 76, has lived for decades on her 4,700-acre farm near West Wyalong in central NSW, where she and her late husband Ned cultivated native mallee-broombush and eucalyptus for brush fencing and oil.
But she now fears she can’t be laid to rest beside Ned, and her grandson, because their burial plots fall inside an area classed as ‘pink mapping’, where strict land-use rules protect endangered plants.
‘Ned died in 2006 and was buried in a plot on the farm after we got approval from Bland Shire Council. My grandson is buried there too,’ she told the Daily Mail.
The mallee-broombush is listed as a critically endangered ecological community, meaning landholders face heavy restrictions on clearing or disturbing it .
‘It’s a rule the NSW Government brought through in about 2018, which means you can do nothing with your land,’ Landholders’ Right to Farm spokesperson Annabelle Davis told 2GB’s Ben Fordham on Wednesday.
‘By law, you are not allowed to pick, pluck, disturb the areaa… Anytime Ms Wheatley mows the lawn on the area that is “pink”, she is, in effect, breaking the law.’
Ms Wheatley says the changes, introduced in about 2018, have made it impossible to manage the land that her family has worked for generations.
Farmer Gaye Wheatley (pictured) fears she won’t be buried on her farm near West Wyalong in New South Wales, due to restrictions on land-use where native plant mallee-broombush grows
One of Ms Wheatley’s grandchildren and her late husband Ned are buried on her farm
‘It leaves me with a feeling of bewilderment. This is getting ridiculous that a freehold land and approved burial site cannot be used,’ the life-long farmer said.
‘My husband worked so hard. He had this vision, he was such an environmentalist – but now, with this restriction, it’s all falling apart,’ she said.
‘We took nothing from the land but rejuvenated it. About 2,000 acres are under the pink critically endangered zoning. We haven’t been able to do anything to the trees – it’s grown out of proportion.’
The retired farmer said the restrictions have gutted her income and driven her family away from the property.
‘Everyone used to be out here, but they’ve had to go off and find other work,’ she said. ‘It’s been very sad to see, it’s left my farm a bit lonely. What sort of country are we living in?’
But NSW Minister for Climate Change, Energy, Heritage and the Environment Penny Sharpe has told the Daily Mail the state government the burial can take place.
‘The department has also assured me that they are ready to undertake a rapid on-site review, to update the mapping and address Mrs Wheatley’s broader concerns about inaccurately mapped broom bush,’ the minister said.
‘We will make sure that this is clarified again over the phone with Mrs Wheatley to avoid any further stress or confusion.
Ned Wheatley’s family have farmed in the area for over 100 years, including cultivating and regenerating mallee-broombush across 4700 acres
Ned Wheatley (pictured) was married to Gaye in 1976 until his death in 2006
‘I have been assured that Mrs Wheatley can be buried next to her husband, pending the usual council approvals,’ Sharpe said.
‘She is also able to maintain the graves on site.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Bland Shire Council for comment.
