Castlebrook Memorial Park: InvoCare proposal for Rouse Hill cemetery

As northwest Sydney’s population booms, a cemetery on the border of Blacktown and the Hills could soon receive an $11.6 million redevelopment. Get your first look at the plans here.

One of the biggest cemeteries in Sydney’s northwest is set to receive an $11.6 million cemetery upgrade.

Castlebrook Memorial Park, originally called Australian Memorial Park when it was a burial park in the 1960s, has plans for a new chapel, as well as a revamp of the site’s existing chapel.

It comes as the area’s population booms, with Rouse Hill’s population rising by 42.5 per cent — from 7967 people to 11349 from 2016 to 2021.

The 73ha park, located on the border of Rouse Hill and Kellyville Ridge, caters for both cremation and burial options.

The plans lodged by InvoCare, an international provider of funeral services, looks to boost the infrastructure in the precinct.

There are plans for a new chapel to be built at Castlebrook Memorial Park.

Castlebrook Memorial Park (outlines in red) sits on the border of Kellyville Ridge and Rouse Hill.

The Hills Shire more broadly is also undergoing marked urbanisation, particularly in what were previously semi rural areas.

Current trends indicate there will be 107,000 new Hills residents in the next 14 years. This is staggering population growth — from today’s 183,000 residents to an estimated 290,000 by 2036.

If approved, Castlebrook Memorial Park’s existing chapel and crematorium would be redeveloped with a changed internal layout and new hearse drop-off.

A new chapel and administration building would be built. The chapel building would contain a family room and a viewing room, as well as the chapel, and the administration building would feature a lobby, two function rooms, five family rooms plus a cafe with an outdoor seating area.

There would also be a new road — located behind the news buildings — and 53-space car park next to the existing parking spaces.