Revealed: Plans for a new cemetery at Wallacia Golf Club
League legend Royce Simmons is supporting resuscitated plans for a new 27,000-plot cemetery on Sydney’s fringes, but not everyone is thrilled with the proposal. SEE THE PLANS HERE
NSW
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It’s the sleepy village on the outskirts of Sydney that claims it needs to build a super-cemetery or it could become a ghost town.
And Penrith Panthers hall of famer Royce Simmons is backing the plans to bring Wallacia back from the dead by putting a 27,000-plot cemetery on the site of the Wallacia Golf Club.
But opponents are lining up to bury the plan, which has already been knocked on the head once by the Independent Planning Commission as a proposal for an 88,000-plot memorial park.
The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the redrawn blueprints have more than halved the cemetery’s size, from 44ha to 21ha.
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The rest of the space would be used for a par-36, nine-hole golf course and upgraded club facilities, with the memorial park moved 800m away from its original proposed position next to Wallacia village.
But Mr Simmons and Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria (CC+C) will face a bitter battle with Penrith Council and Mulgoa Liberal MP Tanya Davies — who has previously threatened to quit politics if the project is approved.
CC+C would sell a portion of the golf club land to club operator St Johns Park Bowling Club, which would pour $10 million into building new community facilities, including synthetic greens for lawn bowls, a hydrotherapy pool and gymnasium.
“The golf club is losing money and if they can’t put all these new things in there is a chance that it could close down,” Mr Simmons, who lives in Wallacia, said.
“This proposal means locals won’t need to drive somewhere else to enjoy community facilities. The new offer has significant changes from the old plans.”
The first Nepean Gardens and Country Club development application was lodged in 2017 but rejected by the Independent Planning Commission in July.
The IPC said the development was “too large in the context of the locality”.
Penrith Council has since drafted a Local Environmental Plan that seeks to prohibit cemeteries and crematorium in Mulgoa and parts of Wallacia.
“We have listened to the community’s concerns and have responded with a scaled down cemetery, expanded amenities and clubhouse,” Catholic Cemeteries and Crematoria CEO Peter O’Meara said.
“Our intention is to upgrade and operate the club for the whole community and we are prepared to invest millions of dollars to bring it back from financial oblivion.”
The new development has also moved a public footpath which, in the previous plans, would have brought the general public into contact with mourners.
In August last year Tanya Davies presented a petition to NSW parliament that said the cemetery would “destroy the rural character of the Wallacia village forever”.
On Friday she described the new proposal as “appalling and deeply offensive”.
“Even if the smallest of cemeteries were given the go ahead the whole site would eventually end up as a cemetery,” she said.
“They are buying it just because the land is cheap. It would destroy a vital social and recreational facility.
“The community, council and local MP are all opposed.”
Ms Davies also backed away from previous threats to quit if the proposal was approved, saying “I would want to stay around and keep fighting for the community.”
Penrith Mayor Ross Fowler did not respond to requests for comment.
The CC+C estimates the Blue Mountains, Liverpool and Penrith Local Government Areas will have 45,000 deaths over the period 2017 to 2032.
It estimates capacity will be reached at 2048 if there are no further burial sites.
In a letter to Penrith Council November 11, it wrote: “Modern cemetery design has a much more subtle and considered visual impact compared with older cemeteries, which are usually visually characterised by large headstones and concrete (known as Victorian era cemeteries)”.
Originally published as Revealed: Plans for a new cemetery at Wallacia Golf Club