Burial Gold Coast: Plans for giant forest cemetery pitched by businessman Tony Longhurst
A Gold Coast businessman wants to hand over more than 200 hectares of land so people can be buried under a tree of their choice in what would become the city’s first forest cemetery. FULL DETAILS >>>
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BUSINESSMAN Tony Longhurst wants to hand over more than 200 hectares (500 acres) of land in the city’s far north so people can be buried under a tree of their choice.
In a solution to the city’s chronic shortage of burial plots, the Boat Works founder is offering the land at Norwell for the Gold Coast City Council to turn into an eco-friendly memorial site.
City leaders are scrambling to find a solution to the city’s cemetery crisis after being told last week there had been a 30 per cent spike in burials.
Mr Longhurst, whose family built Dreamworld and has a 50-year history in the region, said the land would be a living monument to the dead, returning oxygen to the atmosphere and benefiting the environment.
“Five hundred acres is more than 2 million square metres – it’s a lot of room to accommodate the rising demand for burials,” he said.
“We would rather see this prime piece of land dedicated to the memory of our loved ones than sold off or developed.
“It could become a lush, impeccably maintained asset for southeast Queensland and a tranquil place of contemplation for families to visit for generations to come.
“I’ve seen these media reports about high-rise cemeteries or underwater memories but that isn’t going to work. Instead, in this location you could be a tree instead.
“Within 10 years, there would be a massive botanic garden parkland that could include a reception centre, cafe, chapel.”
Under Mr Longhurst’s plan:
● All plots would be GPS marked, so families would know where their loved ones were buried.
● The cemetery could be designed in sections, each with a different type of tree including natives, tropical, eucalypts, cactus and palms.
Converting the site to a cemetery would require the area to be rezoned by both the state government and Gold Coast City Council, something which has proven a major roadblock for previous attempts to redevelop or sell the properties in Norwell Valley.
Area councillor Mark Hammel said Mr Longhurst’s proposal was an “interesting concept” and looked forward to it being investigated by council officers.
“I love hearing big, bold ideas which could solve today’s issues, as well as tomorrows,” he said.
“We are aware as a city that people’s ideas about what their final resting place looks like is changing and we have seen an increased interest in green cemeteries, which is sure to continue.
“We would welcome the chance for Mr Longhurst’s idea to be investigated and for a report to come back to council if it is considered worthy.”
The council is reviewing established cemeteries, but some are expected to be full within five years.
Experts say a high-rise cemetery similar to those in Israel, Brazil and Taiwan has merit given the Gold Coast’s increasing space limitations, but Mayor Tom Tate ruled out ever backing a tomb tower.
Cr Tate says he wants to revive stalled plans for an underwater burial site similar to one built off of the Florida coastline in the US.
Cr Tate also said council would also look at other concepts to relieve pressure on the burial plot shortage such as mausoleum-style structures for families.
Mayor’s radical plan for new Coast cemetery
MAYOR Tom Tate says he is determined to make his dream of an underwater cemetery off the Coast a reality to deal with the city’s chronic shortage of available burial plots.
City leaders are scrambling to find a solution to the city’s cemetery crisis after being told this week there was an urgent need to find more space due a 30 per cent spike in burials.
But the Mayor says he wants to revive stalled plans for an underwater burial site similar to one built off of the Florida coastline in the US.
Cr Tate, who this week ruled out supporting a vertical cemetery, said the proposal should be considered as part of community consultation into the future of resting places within the city.
“Any considerations must also assess whether a future phase of our dive site could involve the placement of ashes from loved ones in headstones, reef balls or other innovative underwater memorialisation options,” he said.
“These memorials would be lowered to the sea floor and positioned based on GPS-data.
“This would create a fitting underwater cemetery for families that chose this resting place while at the same time, it would create new employment through the design, installation and transport of the memorials as well as commercial divers positioning the memorials.
“Recreational divers with licences to descend 30 metres could view this memorial site.’’
In 2018 councillors discussed creating a memorial site to allow cremated remains to be interred in an underwater memorial garden off The Spit.
The concept was inspired by the Neptune Memorial Reef near Miami in Florida which was created in 2007 and sits 5km off the coast of Key Biscayne, Florida, at a depth of 12m.
It will eventually be able to hold more than 125,000 remains.
Cremated remains are mixed with cement to form parts of structures, with plaques added.
Cr Tate this week said council would also look at other concepts to relieve pressure on the burial plot shortage.
“Today, councils across the world are looking at innovative solutions to the pressures placed on cemetery space. We must do the same and we are,” he said.
“I will ask officers to further explore the concept of families being able to be laid to rest together in mausoleum-style structures as part future updates on the Cemeteries Generations Plan.
“This would involve a structure above ground so obviously, there are sensitivities with that concept which need to be considered, along with determining whether there is actual demand for this type of memorialisation.
“I would ask for full community consultation.”
Catacombs were discussed at this week’s council meeting, while experts say the vertical cemetery concept, already in use in multiple countries across the world, has merit.
A confidential report showed the council was looking at possible new sites, but the cost was expected to run into the millions of dollars and challenges involved finding the right location.
‘TOMB WITH A VIEW’: PUSH FOR COAST VERTICAL CEMETERY TOWER
HIGH-rise cemeteries have been pitched as a solution to the Gold Coast’s rapidly escalating tomb shortage.
City planning experts and experienced funeral directors say leaders must think outside the square to address an extreme shortage of available land for future cemeteries – saying we can go up, or way down.
High-rise cemeteries, which include everything from crypts and mausoleums to cafes, have existed for nearly 40 years and are becoming increasingly common in places such as Israel’s Tel Aviv, Taiwan and India.
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However, Mayor Tom Tate says it is dead wrong and “may offend certain religions and the general public”. Although families could be “buried together in mausoleum-style structures”.
Sydney-based Urbis director David Hoy says he has worked closely with the Catholic Church to find two new cemetery sites in the NSW capital in the past decade.
He warned the Gold Coast faced significant challenges given its geographic limitations and lack of remaining available greenfield sites, and said a vertical cemetery could work – if done properly.
“As Australia’s population grows and ages, the rate of deaths will only increase,” he said.
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“When it comes to (a potential vertical cemetery) it will require some proper thinking about how you would situate such a facility because we discovered through the (Sydney) approvals process that people do not like living next to the dead.
“The last thing anyone would want would be to have a vertical ceremony in the back of an industrial estate because it wouldn’t do justice to anyone.”
Brazil’s vertical cemetery, which opened in 1983, stands at 32 storeys and holds more than 25,000 tombs. There are plans to expand.
The cost of burial ranges from $3700 to more than $13,000.
Yarkon Cemetery in Israel is just six storeys tall but has room for the remains of more than 250,000 people.
Mayor Tate has ruled out ever approving a vertical cemetery, though admitted council would investigate other options.
“Let me rule out the idea of a high-rise cemetery of any description on the Gold Coast,’’ he said.
“In my view, a high-rise cemetery would be inappropriate and I expect may offend certain religions and the general public.
“I can see the need for our city to explore the possibility of families being buried together in mausoleum-style structures. Future land may be able to set aside for this purpose, if demand warrants.”
Councillors were this week told there was an urgent need to find more space due a 30 per cent spike in burials.
A confidential report showed the council was looking at possible new sites, but the cost was expected to run into the millions of dollars and challenges involved finding the right location.
City lifestyle and community committee boss Cr Hermann Vorster, who chaired the meeting, said there had been a wide-ranging discussion about options to create more burial space, as well as taking back some highly valuable cemetery real estate.
“Councillors talked about burial arrangements and noted that catacombs have been used in Europe to increase capacity in keeping with cultural and religious preferences,” he said.
“We are very alert that a growing population is putting pressure on our services.
“During committee deliberations it was revealed there are a number of families who have reserved plots some 25-30 years ... but are unlikely to put them to use in the future, so the challenge will be how to incentivise those families to return those plots to the city so they can be used for the benefit of the city.”
The council has long investigated ways of relieving the long-term pressure on its dwindling cemetery stock.
The concept was inspired by the Neptune Memorial Reef near Miami in Florida which was created in 2007 and sits 5km off the coast of Key Biscayne, Florida, at a depth of 12m.
It will eventually be able to hold more than 125,000 remains.
Cremated remains are mixed with cement to form parts of structures, with plaques added.
A Gentle Touch Funerals director Terry Hobson has worked in the industry for more than 25 years and said the increasing space shortage was a major problem which would come to a head in the next four years.
“Something needs to be done now because of the time and funding needed so we don’t run out of room in the meantime,” he said.
‘All jokes aside, I’m dead serious’: Massive Coast issue laid bare
July 15, 2021
THE Gold Coast has a deadly serious problem — the city’s fast-growing suburbs are running out of suitable land and enough plots at its cemeteries.
For ratepayers, the cost of finding suitable land could run into millions of dollars.
At a council lifestyle committee meeting on Tuesday, councillors will vote behind closed doors on a Cemeteries Generations Plan that weighs either exploring new sites or expanding existing facilities.
Council officers in 2019 warned of the urgent need to find more space due a 30 per cent spike in burials.
The Bulletin has been told existing cemeteries at Pimpama, Southport and Mudgeeraba need to be expanded with a bigger hinterland facility likely to force the closure of the neighbouring waste transfer station.
Division 1 councillor Mark Hammel has flagged “significant vegetation clearing” at the north’s Pimpama Cemetery to make room for hundreds more plots.
“This is expected to give us quite a few years of additional capacity into the future to cater for the north’s growing population,” he told the Bulletin.
“I’ve got grave concerns about what would happen if our city were to run out of suitable land for burial plots. All jokes aside, I’m dead serious about this issue.
“When we think about population growth, one of the factors many don’t naturally think about is providing more cemetery space for the future.”
Cr Hammel admitted it was critical for the council to get the planning right in what was a “complicated process” to get the correct site location and soil.
“This can often make finding suitable land for cemeteries quite tricky. For this reason, it’s a smart move for the city to be locking away suitable land for the future now,” he said.
Hinterland-based councillor Glenn Tozer has advised residents that the Mudgeeraba transfer station service would be deployed to Merrimac and Reedy Creek in two to three years to allow for expansion of the township’s historic cemetery.
“Deciding between the convenience of a tip and the future of the cemetery locally is not easy,” he wrote in a Facebook post.
The hinterland will be home to the city’s newest suburb with the $3.2bn Pacific View estate at Hinkler Drive between Nerang and Mudgeeraba, covering 334 hectares and providing for 10,000 residents.
Cr Tozer has acknowledged the pressure from the population boom across the next two decades on local infrastructure, including the cemetery.
He said the council had allocated about $3m to develop the Mudgeeraba cemetery site. The funding needed to be ticked off by future council resolutions.
“The costs associated with establishing a cemetery elsewhere would be a significantly greater cost burden on the ratepayer,” he said.
Council had conducted an audit after running out of available space and now by broadening two sides of the cemetery grounds should have enough plots for a decade, Cr Tozer said.
“The funeral industry remains important to the local economy, and wakes and memorial events at our local function venues augment this economic impact,” he said.
“But most importantly the Mudgeeraba cemetery is and will be a place of cherished history for local families, now and into the future.”
Deputy Mayor Donna Gates said she would be seeking an update on the two cemeteries in her northern division.
Councillor Brooke Patterson said the council, as part of the plan to ensure 100-year burial capacity, had just created 992 new burials plots in the existing Southport cemeteries.
“This was achieved by redesigning some roadway, carparks and garden areas in the Southport Lawn and Southport General Cemeteries,” she said.
“These changes will extend the burial capacity of the Southport Lawn Cemetery by more than 12 years, and the Southport General Cemetery by more than six.”
Residents had asked for the aesthetic beauty of the old cemetery, started in 1880, to be protected.
“I will ensure this happens. It is a treasured part of history, not least because the beautiful tree-lined Southport cemetery internal road is the oldest road on the Gold Coast – the first road built,” Cr Patterson said.
ONE OF THE GOLD COAST’S GRAVEST PROBLEMS
* The city operates eight cemeteries from Alberton in the north to Nerang – and it may need to consider a new southern facility.
* Council warned in 2019 about grave sites at near capacity due to an expected 30 per cent increase in burials.
* Significant vegetation clearing to occur in the north at the Pimpama Cemetery to make room for hundreds of plots. Road access to be improved.
* At least $3m allocated to develop the Mudgeeraba cemetery site in the next few years, subject to further council resolutions.
* Mudgeeraba cemetery expansion will mean the end of the neighbouring waste transfer station in the next few years.
* Confidential report will show council looking at possible new sites, but cost is to run into millions of dollars and challenges involve finding right location and soil.
* At least 992 new burials plots in the existing Southport cemeteries. Required redesign of some roadway, car parks and garden areas.
* Chanes to Southport General Cemetery, gazetted in July 1880 on a 4.2ha site, increases capacity for another six years.
* Almost $1.9m is spent by council on operating costs for cemeteries, but only $728,000 is set aside for capital expenditure, according to the 2021-22 annual plan.
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