It’s standing room only at many cemeteries around Australia. As major cities continue to grow, there’s fierce debate about how to deal with a looming shortage of burial space.
And about one-third of Aussies still want to be buried.
Sydney’s cemeteries are nearly full, the ABC reports, and new sites are facing staunch opposition from locals, who say, “Nobody wants a cemetery in their backyard”.
Sydney hasn’t built a new cemetery in 50 years, despite its population more than doubling in that time and a 2021 review found the city’s cemetery capacity would be exhausted by 2051.
Some religious and cultural groups could run out of burial space in as little as three years.
Kazi Ali, who chairs the Muslim Cemeteries Board, says the situation is desperate, as his community searches for more culturally appropriate burial space.
“It’s a nightmare. The land we’ve got available at this point is not going to last for more than three to four years,” Mr Ali said.
With no sign of a long-term solution to the crisis, some want a complete re-think on how cemeteries are designed.
Sydney architect David Neustein says his studio is looking at new ways of designing cemeteries – among them a ‘burial belt’.
The burial belt model involves burying bodies with native trees rather than rows of headstones, to avoid having to clear land or use scarce space for new cemeteries.
Do you want a burial or cremation? What do you think is the solution to the scarcity of land for cemeteries?
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