REJECT

DOUGLAS PARK CEMETERY AND CREMATORIUM

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What does this Development Mean for Douglas Park and Wilton ?

Disposal of thousands of dead bodies into a sandstone rock shelf and sustained crematorium pollution threatening our Nepean River ecology and many already endangered species such as the Gang-gang and Glossy Black Cockatoos and the Greater Glider

A condition was imposed on the developer for the original DA that "to ensure the development and associated activities/operation are acceptable in terms of the amenity of the neighbourhood and the public interest...this consent does not authorise the use of the site for a crematorium."

(Wollondilly Shire LPP meeting 28/05/20)

Nothing has changed in this regard except the perception of the viability of the project, by the proponent's own admission:

"Utilising the existing approval on the site is not viable nor does it establish a sustainable business model for the cemetery." (Scoping Report 29/02/24 Strategic Context 2.1)

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* 7-days-a-week funeral processions on our already challenging roads

* Our little country village being overshadowed and defined by a massive funeral facility

Why is the Community Angry ?

Four years ago, following community outrage, a cemetery DA for 430-490 Douglas Park Drive, was referred to a Local Planning Panel to consider. Taking advantage of Covid lockdowns, community consultation was online and very brief; the very troublesome facets of the proposal seemed to be glossed over, and approval for a cemetery "concept" was granted for land where "the depth of soil is significantly too little over the whole site" (Red Earth Geosciences 25/09/18) for cemetery development. It was decided that pulverising multiple hectares of a sandstone rockshelf right beside residents and the Nepean River is a tolerable use of the Wollondilly landscape in order to accommodate 28,000 dead bodies. The developer immediately put the block on the market for 20 million dollars but failure to sell it has resulted in the size of the DA being trippled and a crematorium added, elevating it to the State Government for consideration. Rate-paying residents are unable to compete with expensive consultancy firms that diminish and dilute the many obstacles with this location. A system which allows those obstacles to be dealt with at later stages of a DA's implementation should not be permitted when that proposal is problematic, offensive, potentially toxic, and met with fierce and unrelenting objection from community and councillors alike. Our MP, Judy Hannan, has been of assistance introducing a notice of motion that saw the Mayor and councillors vote unanimously to ensure that the State Planning Panel are well informed of the fatal lack of soil, sewerage, adequate drainage, road infrastructure, community and council support, or market for a facility of this nature, in this location.

The Site is located above the Nepean River with residential properties in between. Climate change has caused a big increase in intense weather events with stormwater over flow from the Site gushing through four tributaries to the river below. The community is very concerned about the polluting effects a state wide cemetery and crematorium will have on the health and safety of the river ecology.

Flooding on Site

Audio

Across the road

Through properties

through the gullies

and into the river

Reality may be different from
promises made...

five little koalas in a night time eucalyptus tree.jpg

On the developer's website, the promise BEFORE approval is granted, is to provide a "sanctuary" that will "minimise any impacts on biodiversity..."
However, THIS is the image the developer chose to use to advertise on the Sydney property market immediately after the original "concept approval" passed:

BIG difference !!

Access is a huge problem...

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Many of the directions from which to travel to the proposed site involve travelling over either the Douglas Park or Appin causeways - both of which are very narrow, winding, one-way in some sections, and subject to flooding and rockfalls.

The 28 May 2020 LPP minutes tried to make the claim that visitors can somehow be encouraged not to travel over causeways with measures that "largely involve notifying vistors of access arrangements prior to attending the site through website notices, management plans and the like"! A marketing representative admitted that they "can't control google" when challenged with the certainty that GPS services would, indeed, direct visitors over Douglas Park Gorge as the fastest travel route to and from the Site from many locations, increasing car numbers on the causeway by hundreds of vehicles a day.

Start Now

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From the Council...

Deputy Mayor Matt Deeth: "...there are significant infrastructure issues that are unresolved and I hope that the planning panel that will be assessing this will certainly take all of that into consideration because there is no way we could possibly have that style of cemetery in that position without significant impacts on our community out there...the Douglas Park Drive down to the gorge is not satisfactory for traffic right now and needs significant investment, we are talking millions of dollars and you know that...is just not going to be done in time for this"

Councillor Briggs: "...my belief is that if [Transport NSW] are not aware of it I think it would probably hit a wall as soon as they became aware of it...those roads are not capable of dealing with significant amounts of traffic..."

Councillor Rogers: "...even if they don't go through the gorge they are going to have to come up to Picton Road... Anyone who has been on Picton Road in recent times, and it doesn't matter which way you turn, whether you turn back to Menangle Road or in through Wilton, we have got all sorts of issues with the Almond Street overpass, all these other issues, it's really interesting that the State Government have a vision zero for road toll. This would proably increase the road toll..." (Wollondilly Shire Council Meeting 23/04/24)

Bodies Buried in Sandstone Rock!

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From the Red Earth Geosciences Site assessment:

"The Site has insufficient soil depth over its entire surface in order that a conventional cemetery can be developed. Residual soil depths are typically 0.7-0.9 metres deep and variously overlay weathered sandstone bedrock. The most weathered bedrock at the Site is of highly variable form and thickness and because of its nature (being jointed Hawkesbury Sandstone which has potentially been subject to micro-fracturing due to mine subsidence) should not be relied upon to provide adequate cemetery function." (Dent, Boyd B. Red Earth Geosciences, Preliminary Review Study and Site Assessment 25/09/18)

The May 2020 LPP meeting:

"As the ripping of rocks will result in deceased persons literally being laid on top of a rock layer, it is recommended that groundwater wells are placed in strategic locations, and regularly monitored to ensure that there is no migration of body exudates along the rock platform and offsite." (emphasis added)

Burying bodies in sandstone rock

From the Council...

Councillor Suzy Brandstater:

" ...it comes down, to me, as absolute environmental vandalism...it is huge and it is going to destroy the environment and it is so close to the waterways..." (Wollondilly Shire Council Meeting 23/04/24)

Mayor Matt Gould:
"...I hope that we can stop it because it is a terrible, terrible idea in pretty much solid rock which is a terrible place to put a cemetery to begin with." (Wollondilly Shire Council Meeting 23/04/24)

Indigenous Heritage

Cubbitch Barta:

"I do not agree with the assessment for Cultural reasons. We were not included in this assessment, and would have provided a Cultural perspective rather than just the perspective that was given...The geo tech testing only proved that there is a soil deposit that has the potential to contain sub-surface materials. It also proves that it is not a good spot for burials, as the rock layer is quite shallow, making it unsuitable for burials. For Cultural reasons, it is an unsuitable location for burials and if this project is to proceed then it should have a full Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment." (LPP meeting minutes13/02/20)

The site is within a study area which "is dominated by surface and sub-surface artefactual material generally found within 200m of the larger river systems within the region. Distances of sites up to 500m away are documented...[and]...there is high potential for Aboriginal objects/site to occur along the banks of the Nepean...River(s)". (AHMS report for GMIA by DP&E, 2017)

From our MP, Judy Hannan: "...there is a site test for Cemeteries and Crematories in NSW and none of this proposal actually sits well in those criteria...it is opposite a residential area. It's poor access and it's from both directions...we inter 54 locals a year or something, so these 80,000 people that are being interred are not going to come knowing what the local roads are like. There is drainage issues and it all drains down to the Nepean River...we have insufficient soil depth. They are going to rip the rocks, I don't know if they blast first, to a depth of three metres to be able to actually allow burials and the Site has potential Aboriginal and Cultural heritage significance and probably some flora and fauna as well...the people of Douglas Park need to know that this council is standing firm with them, not only on what

the concept plan that was

approved but the State

Significant, so both things,

our council will say are

unacceptable for us."

Are we Running out of Burial Space in Wollondilly?

The developer claims to be addressing a burial plot shortfall identified for the Greater Sydney Region Plan, (Scoping Report, Ethos Urban, 29/02/24) Since this report was generated in 2017, three new cemeteries have been approved: Varroville with a 136,000 capacity, Wallacia with 40,000 capacity and a second huge cemetery at Wallacia with 770,00 capacity - three times the projected shortfall predicted by 2051.

The Wollondilly Shire is well supplied with burial plots for our own population for decades to come, including the new Wilton growth area. Council runs three active cemeteries, with land purchased beside one of them for future expansion. A DA has recently passed for a privately run cemetery at Picton, and parcels of Crown land at Wilton and Couridjah have been gazetted for future cemetery development.