Kinglake cemetery: Whittlesea-Kinglake Rd neighbours to fight plan at VCAT
While some people are dying to get into a future Kinglake cemetery, others are pitching to fight plans for the site, which had been earmarked for the community after the devastating 2009 fires.
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Cemetery plans for a “magnificent” parcel of pristine Kinglake land won’t be laid to rest quite yet with neighbours taking the local authority’s decision to VCAT.
Murrindindi Shire councillors gave the green light to issue a planning permit to applicant Maureen Jackson Planning to put a cemetery at 265 Whittlesea-Kinglake Rd.
If it goes ahead the site, previously earmarked for community use following the Black Saturday bushfires, will be managed by the Kinglake Ranges Cemetery Trust.
But long-term Kinglake resident John Griffiths said after the Black Saturday bushfires tore through Kinglake, the State Government, through the Victorian Bushfire Appeal Fund, purchased the site for community use.
However plans for an arts and cultural centre and Parks Victoria office fell through.
Mr Griffiths said The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning then gave half the land to the Kinglake Ranges Foundation and the other half to the Department of Human and Human Services, which then handed over management of the site to the Trust.
He said the Trust had previously been rejected twice after it applied to have the land rezoned for cemetery use.
Mr Griffiths said residents were preparing to appeal the council’s decision at VCAT.
“The argument is not about a cemetery for the Kinglake Ranges but that the land at 265 Whittlesea-Kinglake Rd is not the appropriate site,” he said.
“We believe it is such an iconic site, it really is like putting a cemetery on top of Mt Dandenong with such beautiful, panoramic views across Melbourne.”
He said the “magnificent” parcel of land, next to the Frank Thomson Reserve, offered unique opportunities for economic and tourism development and passive recreation for all Victorians.
“We believe there are better alternatives for a cemetery site in the Ranges,” he said.
Flowerdale resident Lyn Gunter, a former mayor of Murrindindi Shire, said she believed the council had approved the plan “without ticking off all the boxes that needed to be ticked off”.
“The previous consultation we’ve had when (the Trust) wanted to rezone the land, the community said they didn’t want a cemetery there,” Ms Gunter said.
“The community said yes we want a cemetery but not on that site.
“It has got the most beautiful views of Melbourne, just spectacular.
“Why would you want to put a cemetery on one of the most iconic sites in Melbourne?
“It’s like the top of the Dandenongs, it’s just a beautiful site.”
According to council documents, submissions supporting the proposal included a family who want to be buried at the site, some thought it was the perfect location for the development, while another said “every town needs a cemetery”.
The site would include a lawn cemetery, children’s memorial, pioneers memorial
garden, and veterans memorial garden.
The majority of the site would be interning ashes — room for 5350 cremated remains, with some room for lawn burials.
The State Government and Kinglake Ranges Cemetery Trust have contacted for comment.
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