The city's Sikh Temple committee has launched a petition calling on Griffith City Council to build a crematorium in the first stage of the city's new cemetery.
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The petition comes as the public submission period for comments on council's New Cemetery and Crematorium masterplan looks to close on July 31 and follows the community's call in past years to bring a crematorium to the city.
President of the city's Sikh Temple Parshotam Singh said while the masterplan includes a proposed site in the first stage, it must be built from the get-go.
"For too long Griffith has been without a dedicated local crematorium," Mr Singh said.
"Griffith's Indian community have been asking council to build cremation facilities in Griffith for a number of years.
"The community feels if a crematorium is not included in the first stage of the new proposed cemetery it will never be built."
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A survey of the state's cemetery and crematoria operators in 2017 indicated cremation had overtaken burials in terms of commonality and Mr Singh said while cremation falls in line with Sikh funeral customs, a crematorium would be utilised by the entire community.
"Building a local crematorium in the new proposed cemetery will ensure the residents of Griffith and surrounding towns will have quality service close to home and loved ones," Mr Singh said.
"Many people in the Indian, Chinese, Thai [communities] and other communities prefer cremations in line with beliefs.
"A lot of people who aren't religious prefer to have their loved ones cremated."
The petition is one of two petitions currently being circulated seeking support to add a crematorium in the first stage of construction of the city's new cemetery, with a petition from Ricky Chugha also being circulated amongst the community.
The Sikh temple's petition can be found here and if you would like to provide feedback on the masterplan, you can do so by visiting the Griffith City Council website here.
