General News
23 January, 2026
Cemetery road resurfaced
Maryborough Cemetery’s main roads have been redone, after years of disrepair, thanks to $75,000 of grant funding.
After years of patchwork repairs, Maryborough Cemetery’s main roads have been redone thanks to $75,000 of grant funding.
Cracked and uneven, Maryborough Cemetery’s most-used road had become a sore spot of disrepair in an otherwise carefully maintained local cemetery.
However, their fortunes changed thanks to grant funding from Victoria’s Department of Health and Bendigo Bank’s Community Bank Avoca, Maryborough and St Arnaud.
The former contributed $65,000 which got the equipment on site and the road redone from the main gate down to the columbarium — a building for cremated remains that’s centrally placed in the cemetery.
The latter was contacted by Maryborough Public Cemetery Trust president David Bilton who saw an opportunity to extend the works up to the lawn area near the car parks if he had more funding.
While Mr Bilton’s request was outside the community bank’s normal funding rounds they were flexible securing him a $10,000 contribution ahead of the works.
“The old roadway here was all crumbled ... it was a real hazard,” he said.
“Now it’s done like this it’s brilliant.”
The community bank’s executive officer Julie Driscoll said the works were a valuable opportunity because a lot of the expense was getting the equipment to site which had already been funded.
“Every town has a cemetery, they are extremely important places for people to visit and we all know that, so it was pretty valuable for us,” she said.
“It was good to finally partner with them.”
Across two decades with the cemetery Mr Bilton has seen the role it plays in community life.
“At some stage nearly everyone ends up visiting a relative here or their remains end up here,” he said.
“It’s great a community bank can put money back into the community and help us with an asset like this.”
The new road is expected to last between three to five decades due to its frequent yet gentle use by slow moving traffic and pedestrians.
The cemetery’s sexton Thomas Hoban also thanked local contractor Doran Earthmoving for their considerate work.
“The care and the respect they took was just fantastic. We can’t thank them enough,” he said.
The Maryborough Public Cemetery Trust’s thanks also extend to Bendigo Asphalting’s quick and professional work.
While applying for grant funding can be challenging, Ms Driscoll encouraged other community groups to have a go.
“Part of my job is to help them submit the best application that they can,” she said.
According to the Community Bank Avoca, Maryborough and St Arnaud, they have provided $2.7 million in grants, sponsorships and volunteer support since 2009.