Plans lodged for first stage of southside's bush cemetery

A new southside cemetery is a step closer with plans lodged for Stage 1, which will provide 2500 burial plots and cover nearly almost a quarter of the eventual 76.8 hectare facility.

The Southern Memorial Park (SMP) on Mugga Lane in Tuggeranong has been conceived as bush cemetery which the ACT Government will develop over the next 100 years to meet the demand from a growing city, particularly on the south side.

SMEC has been engaged by Transport Canberra and City Services (TCCS) to prepare the detailed design for construction of Stage 1.

The $41 million first stage will cover 20.4 ha, including 15.4 ha of burial space including native lawn, a traditional garden cemetery, natural burial areas and memorial repositories for ashes.

It is intended to be delivered within about five years to meet the current levels of demand in South Canberra.

It will not include a crematorium.

This DA includes a works depot with office and sheds, traffic lights at the entrance on Mugga Lane, lawn, internal roads and car parking, memorial gardens and park landscaping, a nature playground, stormwater system and pond, and utilities.

Natural burial areas were not originally included in Stage 1 but added due to public demand. It will be located in a treed area in the western corner of the site and offer about 120 plots.

A natural burial is where the body is buried in environmentally friendly coffins or without a grave liner.

Stage 2 will complete the main carpark and provide a crematorium, memorial halls, an outdoor chapel, visitors centre, and an administration building to be built over the next 50 years, although the government has said the “the most-needed facilities” will be operational within a decade.

Stage 3 will take a further 35 years to complete and Stage 4 the next 15 years.

Access to the site is currently a driveway adjacent to the Mugga Lane Solar Farm but a new signalised entrance will be needed so vehicles and funeral prcoessions can enter and leave the cemetery safely.

Car parking on the site will require spaces for two processional vehicles, eight office visitor bays and eight for staff.

The central carpark will have 34 spaces servicing the SMP and the Welcome Garden, and there will also be 24 formal spaces, including eight for people with a disability.

A network of paths and walking trails throughout the site will allow people to reach all areas of the park.

The DA says tree removals have been kept to a minimum with the design undergoing several changes to reduce impacts to mature native trees including the relocation of the nature playground and changes to the entrance and Mugga Lane intersection.

All up, 163 trees, including 35 mature native trees, will need to go, but about 940 mature native trees will be planted, which in time should provide a much-improved canopy and habitat for native animals.

Extensive landscaping across the site will use endemic and native species to enhance the bushland setting.

The DA says areas of Aboriginal cultural heritage significance will be retained and have been incorporated into the design to ensure they are conserved.

Comment closes on the DA on 17 October.