Gold Coast Council keeps quiet on plans to solve limited space in region’s cemeteries

QUARRIES and wastelands could be the solution to help relieve pressure on the Gold Coast’s rapidly filling cemeteries.

Quarries and wastelands could be the solution to help relieve pressure on the Gold Coast’s rapidly filling cemeteries.

QUARRIES and wastelands could be the solution to help relieve pressure on the Gold Coast’s rapidly filling cemeteries.

The Gold Coast City Council is preparing to release a report on the options to help find a space for gravesites.

Space in the city’s cemeteries has been quickly diminishing over the past five years, the most dire the Mudgeeraba Cemetery which has just six monuments sites remaining.

In 2014, the Bulletin reported a rush of burial bookings had netted the council more than $1.3 million in 12 months.

The Gold Coast University Hospital overlooks the Southport Lawn Cemetery. Picture: Tim Marsden

The Southport General and Southport Lawn cemeteries were popular and the Greek Orthodox community was fast reaching capacity.

Despite a report on the cemetery being completed, the council will not reveal its exact plans.

Councillors last month voted to have the report classed non-confidential but council CEO Dale Dickson did not see the report as fit to be released and redacted the entire report.

“The report was redacted due to budget and business considerations,” a city spokesman told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

Mudgeeraba councillor Glenn Tozer said among the options for the Mudgeeraba Cemetery was to expand into a quarry next to the graveyard.

“One of the questions we are looking at is does it have the capacity to fix the problem?,” he said.

The Gold Coast University Hospital overlooks the Southport Lawn Cemetery. Picture: Luke Marsden

If the quarry is not viable, the council may have to look to other vacant land sites for a new cemetery.

“Are we going to close up shop or are we going to expand,” Cr Tozer said.

While space in Mudgeeraba’s cemetery is low, the council is not considering restricting the remaining plots to only those with longstanding ties to the area.

The blacking out of the Mudgeeraba report comes just weeks before a city wide strategy into cemeteries is released.

The Bulletin understands a majority of the options will centre around setting aside or buying more land for burials.

Alternatives such as moving old graves or pushing for more people to be cremated are not under serious contention.

“The city has engaged a consultancy to analyse options for cemetery capacity throughout the city,” the city spokesman said.

“The findings will help guide council in making decisions on future requirements.”

The spokesman said the council was also speaking with various religious and cultural groups to ensure there was space for the requirements of the growing number of cultures on the Coast.