Plans submitted for City Cemetery expansion

Plans have been submitted for a £1m expansion of the City Cemetery in Derry, it can be revealed today.

If approved an additional 980 plots will be created at the local graveyard.

For many years concerns have been raised that the City Cemetery has been running out of burial space.

Derry City and Strabane District Council, which manages the cemetery, have lodged a planning application in recent days for the extension proposals.

The Derry News has seen confidential documents from a special meeting of Derry City & Strabane District Council’s Environment and Regeneration Committee held on Tuesday to discuss the plans.

A report was presented to councillors detailing plans to expand the existing City Cemetery on to adjoining lands at Southway.

The plans include a new road into the cemetery off the lower end of the Southway road (below).

It has also emerged that a portion of the lands could be made available for social housing.

Council officers estimate that the expansion will cost £1.1m.

The earmarked wooded area is presently owned by the Northern Ireland Housing Executive (NIHE) which leases it to the Woodland Trust.

Council officers previously explored the possibility of expanding it in two parts.  An initial assessment indicated that 1,500 additional plots could be accommodated.

The larger part of the works were to be sited on the high ground below Kildrum Gardens where 1,000 plots would have been situated.

The smaller area on low land opposite Lone Moor Gardens – where the new entrance will be made – was to accommodate 500 plots.

However, as detailed plans were drawn up it emerged that the lower site was unsuitable because of engineering costs and the inability to meet inclusive standards for pathways.

Furthermore, the document states that the number of plots that could be accommodated would be significantly reduced by site works and drainage systems and the presence of red squirrels and badgers may have led to planning issues.

Development of the lower cemetery site opposite Lone Moor Gardens was therefore ruled out.

But for health and safety reasons officers recommended approving the new access road.

According to the report, the approved upper Kildrum site will have space for approximately 980 plots.

It could extend the lifespan of the existing cemetery for between five and seven years, dependent on future burial rates, it adds.

Local residents were assured that the new access road will provide around 35 parking spaces for residents or visitors.

Council officers also attempted to assuage the concerns around fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour which have caused problems for residents in the past.

NEW SITE

Part of the rationale behind the expansion is to allow the local council to find a suitable site for a new cemetery.

Since the late 1990s the local council has been reviewing the lifespan of the cemetery and as such decided to research potential new sites.

It sought expressions of interest from landowners who were willing to sell land on two occasions during 2016 but nobody came forward.

A third advertisement in 2018 generated four expressions of interest at Coney Road in Culmore, lands adjoining the old Killea Cemetery, lands at Nixon’s Corner and near Braehead Road.

The preferred site at Killea was ruled out as the cost was deemed too high.

Lands close to Nixon’s Corner are now viewed as the most realistic option.

When asked to confirm that approval was granted and plans for a new cemetery site, a spokesperson for Derry City & Strabane District Council said: “The meeting was held in confidential due to the commercially sensitive nature of the discussions however the recommendations from the meeting have to come before Full Council for ratification next week and we will be in a position to provide more info at this point.”