MIDCOAST Council has said sorry for "the angst and hurt experienced" after running a program to assess the risk of headstones in the area's cemeteries.
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The council on Tuesday confirmed that of the 59 monuments laid down at Wingham's The Bight Cemetery, 47 will be restored.
The program has been suspended pending a full review, MidCoast Council's director of liveable communities Paul De Szell said, and works will be undertaken quickly at council's cost.
"The intent of the program is to protect the public and while we remain committed to this outcome, we have got the implementation of this program horribly wrong," Mr De Szell said.
"When we presented the program to the [heritage] reference group we discussed the original intent of the program, however it is in the practical implementation of the program that things have gone wrong. This is a concern both to us and to the reference group."
"In manoeuvring a vehicle around the cemetery it appears that it has encroached on the edge of a grave. This isn't acceptable and we apologise."
The program followed the death of Indy Lee Henderson, 3, in 2016 after a sandstone headstone collapsed on her at Blackhead Bowling Club between Forster and Taree.
The remaining dozen monuments, along the eastern side of the cemetery and damaged in storms late last year, will remain down.
Council staff will address a community meeting scheduled in Wingham this Sunday.
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