Second public rally to save Carnarvon Golf Club from cemetery slated for October 12
Residents fighting the conversion of a golf course into a cemetery in Sydney’s west have expressed distress that the plan for “daily grief” goes against cultural beliefs, as a second rally is planned.
Residents fighting a plan to replace a western Sydney golf course with a cemetery have labelled the proposal distressing and culturally insensitive to Asian beliefs ahead of a second public rally to stop the “outrageous” plan.
Addressing Cumberland Council’s meeting on Wednesday night, Berala resident William Ng said plans for a cemetery in front of homes at the Carnarvon Golf Course in Lidcombe was distressing for the Asian community.
“For many in our community – particularly Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean families – cemeteries should not be placed near homes,’’ he said.
“In our culture, living near graves is seen as inviting misfortune, disharmony and distress. The thought of raising children where every window faces tombstones, where memorial services become a constant disruption – this is not a peaceful, thriving community. It’s a place of daily grief.’’
Mr Ng said 35 per cent of residents in Berala and nearly 50 per cent in Lidcombe had Asian heritage.
“These are not fringe concerns, these are the cultural values of nearly half our community,’’ he said.
“Ignoring them is ignoring nearly half the people who live here.’’
The government is pushing for the golf club site, on Crown land, to be turned into a 70,000-plot cemetery to be run by Metropolitan Memorial Parks as Sydney faces a burial space crisis.
Lidcombe woman Gaya Arasaratnam said living near cemeteries also carried stigma in the Tamil community.
“In many cultures represented here in Cumberland, such as the Tamil community, living besides a cemetery is distressing and carries a heavy emotional and spiritual burden especially after fleeing a war-ridden country,’’ she said.
“We are people who have lived through war, genocide. Many of us have come to Australia seeking safety and unity.’’
Other Hands Off Carnarvon campaign members, kitted out in their pink T-shirts that have become ubiquitous throughout the anti-cemetery campaign, also addressed the council meeting when a second public rally for October 12 was discussed.
They expressed concerns over the loss of green space, flooding and intensifying traffic congestion.
Through tears, Karen Wright implored the council to do everything it could to stop the Minns Government proposal.
“I’ve seen groups of families come down for dinner and watch the children go downstairs and out onto the course and run around,’’ Mrs Wright said.
“Soccer ball, football. If that is not a good thing there is something wrong.
“It’s one thing to ask for the high rise, and yes, we need places to live but you’ve got to have the green space for everybody.’’
Patty Hodgson would be living 10m from a cemetery if the plan gets the green light.
The Berala resident, who has celebrated key milestone at the golf club including her wedding reception, fears the community will be robbed of green space.
“Carnarvon is more than turf and trees, it’s a living sanctuary,’’ she said.
“It’s the lungs of our neighbourhood and one of the last remaining green spaces in the area.
“We’re already burdened by the largest cemetery in the southern hemisphere (at Rookwood) and on our doorstep a prison and a freight train.’’
She was upset by Lands and Property Minister Stephen Kamper’s comments in August that Lidcombe was a cemetery precinct and Carnarvon was the preferred site because it suggested it was “like it was a done deal”.
“It makes the community feel the consultation period is a tick-box exercise as he has already made up his mind,’’ she said.
“This is not just about planning – it’s about trauma. I do not to walk my dog and be forced to explain to my children why black hearses line the road across from our home. I do not want them to associate their neighbourhood with death and despair.’’
Hands off Carnarvon Golf Club leader Mohamed Hassan said the government took Lidcombe for granted.
Lyn Connolly said the community was already living next door to Rookwood and the plan would bring “grief into a space currently filled with joy, play and connection”.
“All it will do is help the dead, not the living,’’ she said.
“Everyone dies only once but the children and their families play golf regularly.’’
Cumberland Council, led by Labor Mayor Ola Hamed, has objected to the cemetery along with Labor MP Lynda Voltz in a move against their party.
Along with hosting the rally in October, the council will also write to Mr Minns and Mr Kamper to attend a special meeting to hear the community’s response.
A spokesman for Mr Kamper said Sydney cemeteries would soon need to begin turning away faith groups.
“Successive governments let a problem evolve into a crisis that has left families across Sydney set to run out of burial space within two years,’’ he said.
“Sydney is in a burial space crisis.’’
Metropolitan Memorial Parks would runs the cemetery and is consulting with the community on its proposal for two months until October 19.
Mr Kamper’s spokesman said the government had directed MMP to identify options for burial sites and it had assessed more than 1000 sites.
“We got into this mess because successive governments put this in the too-hard basket, now we are at a point where we can’t afford not to act,’’ he said.
Carnarvon has a lease on the site until 2035 and a mutual agreement would be required to terminate the lease.
No decision has been made on the proposal for Carnarvon Golf Course to become a cemetery, because the NSW Government has not yet received the proposal from MMP.
