Council extends search for new cemetery site

The council has been trying to find a site for a new cemetery in the borough for a number of years without success.

Currently it has only enough space at Carnmoney Cemetery to accommodate burials for the next 18 months. And if a suitable site for a new cemetery is not found soon, new burial plots will only be available in Ballyclare and Rashee cemeteries, with a capacity of approximately five years.

In July this year, following a public backlash over plans to develop a new cemetery on land within the Valley Park, just yards from the Children’s Hospice, the council agreed to place advertisements in local and regional newspapers, seeking land suitable for the development of cemetery provision.

At their Policy and Governance Committee meeting on Monday evening, council Chief Executive Jacqui Dixon informed members that so far nine expressions of interest have been received from local landowners.

With several other potential sites having been proposed to the council after the advertised deadline, members agreed that a further advertisement seeking expressions of interest should be placed in the press in the coming days.

Mrs Dixon said that all possible cemetery land will be assessed by the council’s consultants, with potentially suitable locations being shortlisted for further exploration.

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