A natural burial ground could be created in Mullumbimby and a Byron councillor said it would be ‘part of the solution’ to environmental destruction

A departure from the recommended plan for the site, which will also be home to a nursery and environmental education facility has brought the project back on the table.

A natural burial ground could be established on a property near Mullumbimby.

Byron Shire councillors have departed from a staff recommendation by reinstating scope for a natural burial ground on land near Mullumbimby.

The decision marks the declaration of the shire’s first natural burial ground site, although a development application would still be required to make those plans a reality.

The vision for the Vallances Road site, set to also be home to a nursery and environmental education facility and regeneration works, went before the council’s meeting on Thursday.

Although the site had been flagged for a potential natural burial ground – one without headstones, where biodegradable coffins are used and the area essentially looks like bushland – the council’s staff advised against this.

Diane Hart, representing the Natural Burial Ground committee, urged councillors to bring their plans back on the table during public access.

Byron Shire Council has declared “Area A” on this landon Vallances Road at Mullumbimby as the shire’s first natural burial ground.

“We realise that this site has been recognised as an important biodiversity hotspot,” she said.

“We only seek to enhance that.”

She said their vision was for “a special and sacred place that can work within the existing natural landscape”.

Ms Hart stressed the extent of wild forests and grasslands lost in Australia in the past two centuries.

Their plan, she said, would be in harmony with efforts to remedy that.

“Do we want our last resting place to be part of the problem or part of the solution?” she said.

“We have an opportunity to be part of the solution.”

The sire at Vallances Road, Mullumbimby.

Ms Hart said the burial ground would need to involve a composting toilet and the committee envisages “a small chapel” but it would otherwise have a “minimal impact on the site”.

Jeanette Olley from Byron Bird Buddies spoke in firm support of the staff’s recommendation in terms of its biodiversity outcomes.

She said the last survey found the site was home to 180 species, including 12 which are threatened and was a “highly significant refuge area for out of area species”.

But she said she had no qualms with the plans for a natural burial ground.

The Vallances Road site, near Mullumbimby, where one proposed use is a natural burial ground.

Councillor Jeannette Martin and mayor Michael Lyon moved a motion seeking to reinstate support for a final resting place.

“What we are looking to create here is a nature reserve in which people can be buried,” Ms Martin said.

“It will be beautiful.”

She said the committee had “highly qualified” members who would contribute to a strong development application.

“It’s going to be remarkable, this site, and I have complete and utter faith in the group that they can pull this one off, with council’s support,” Ms Martin said.

Along with supporting the dedication of the site as a natural burial ground, councillors allocated $15,000 to help staff with the “ongoing governance” of the burial ground by the existing committee.