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Dorothy Jackson was 77 when she bought her burial plot on a 25-year term, not thinking she would ever outlive it.
But at 102, Ms Jackson was told the terms of her contract for her plot at Sydney's famous Waverley Cemetery had expired — and she would have to pay $6,000 to extend it for another five years.
"She doesn't feel like putting two feet in the grave," her daughter Ann Cooper told ABC Radio Sydney.
"She really didn't expect to be alive.
"I've approached the council and everything, but they said no, they can't do anything about it."
The cemetery borders the coast in Sydney's eastern suburbs. (ABC News)
Waverley Cemetery sits on the coast of Sydney's eastern suburbs and is surrounded by some of the city's most sought-after real estate.
More than 100,000 people are buried there, including notable Australians such as Henry Lawson and Dorothea Mackellar — and it's running out of room.
Ms Jackson, who has lived in the area for most of her adult life, felt it was unfair to have to pay the extension cost to retain her plot.
After being contacted by the ABC, Waverley Council has decided to waive the extension fee for Ms Jackson to retain her plot.
Sydney's famous Waverley Cemetery sits between Coogee and Bondi Beach. . (Wikimedia: Kgbo)
"Given the age of Ms Jackson, we're actually going to waive the fee," Waverley Mayor Paula Masselos told presenter James Valentine.
"This has been a very interesting scenario where I think officers didn't think they would ever have to think about it," she said.
"We’ll have to go back and review this, particularly given that more and more people are living to these grand ages."
Shrinking grave space challenging council
Councillor Masselos said Waverley Cemetery was a popular burial site and space was at a premium.
She said cases like Ms Jackson's showed why renewable interment rights were so important.
"It actually ensures that people really want the site and they're not just hanging on to it for whatever reason or forgetting they have it," she said.
Famous Australians including Victory Trumper and Dorothea Mackellar are buried at Waverley Cemetery. (ABC News: Brendan Esposito)
The mayor said the cemetery recently offered niche walls for urns at the cemetery and there was already a waiting list.
Waverley Council has been auditing unused burial sites, but Councillor Masselos said it was a slow process because each person had to be contacted individually.
Plots often forgotten
Thousands of spots at cemeteries are going unused, according to Australasian Cemeteries & Crematoria Association CEO Ben Kelly.
Mr Kelly said that was because families often did not know they had plots.
"If you look at some of those old cemeteries, there's a lot of unused sites that people have forgotten about," he said.
Mr Kelly, who used to oversee a cemetery on the Gold Coast, said using limited terms was a way of making sure cemetery land was being used.
"With land being an issue, this is a way of trying to make use of the land that we already have, rather than trying to create a whole brand new cemetery,” he said.
He recommends checking if your grave site is on a fixed term or in perpetuity, and contacting cemetery if a term is set to expire.
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