For years the city of Griffith has been contending with a serious, and seemingly longstanding, issue - Griffith Cemetery is nearing full capacity.
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Griffith City Council has proposed a solution: construction of a new cemetery on Rifle Range Road.
While the general consensus of such a move is positive, there are still a number of concerns about the proposed cemetery location.
Residents along Rifle Range Road have conveyed a number of worries about a new cemetery being placed on their busy road.
From concerns over noise pollution from Griffith Airport; to the route funeral processions may now have to take to reach the proposed new cemetery site; and to the dangers of simply sharing a road with trucks and road trains reaching up to 100km/hr, it seems their worries are indeed justified.
Other residents wonder why Council has chosen that particular site to begin with.
Griffith Mayor, John Dal Broi, has commented on the matter.
“We were concerned and that’s why we deliberated what we should do, whether we should look at another area just further around here [near Griffith Cemetery],” Cr. Dal Broi said.
Concerns have also been raised over land plot and crematorium allocation regarding religious inclination; separation of denominations.
“When we further investigated, we realised we desperately need a crematorium. So, do we put one here, when we’re running out of room or do we look at a brand new site?” Cr. Dal Broi said.
Currently, a number of the population is travelling to Wagga Wagga to have their needs met for cremation.
“A section of our community... they cremate, so whenever one passes away, they have to go all the way to Wagga,” Cr. Dal Broi said.
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“We’re looking to do a joint venture with a crematorium.”
However, the concerns regarding capacity at the Griffith Cemetery have been ongoing for many years.
According to the 2009 Griffith City Council Cemetery Management Plan, conducted by the Cemetery Office, it has been known that the Griffith Cemetery (on Wakaden Street) would potentially reach overcapacity by 2015. Looking at the council’s recent proposal, it may not be until 2023 that the new cemetery is completed.
“It is assumed that the current cemetery site at Wakaden Street will cease to be operational for new burials (ie other than for re-opens) by 2015 approximately,” the plan reported.
Cr. Dal Broi explained that this has been an issue for over 15 years.