Cemetery proposal will not proceed

Gosford Council has decided not to proceed with a cemetery at the Woy Woy abattoir site, after the proposal was opposed by a major Central Coast cemetery operator.

Palmdale Lawn Cemetery owner Mr John Stevens told the council that Palmdale could meet demand for the next 30 to 40 years.

He said that the Woy Woy site was "dangerous to traffic and has limited suitability due to its location on a hair pin bend".

Council staff had recommended that the proposal proceed to the next step: submitting it to the Department of Planning for a "gateway" determination.

In a report to council, staff said that stormwater runoff would not affect downstream Coastal Open Space lands, as "runoff from any site is required to be at pre-development levels and there is to be no sediment loss".

"There is not envisage to be any adverse effect on the COSS wetlands in Correa Bay."

Staff stated that issues of land contamination, vegetation, acid sulphate soils and weed management would have to be addressed priority to consultation with public agencies.

The report stated that cemetery and crematorium operating hours were outside peak traffic times in Woy Woy Rd.

While it may be that the proposal had "no unacceptable traffic implications in terms of road network capacity", the report said that the applicant would have to adequately address the intersection of the internal access road with Woy Woy Rd.

The report stated that the workforce of 20 people anticipated for the complex was much less than the 147 workers that could be employed, if the Gosford average of one worker per 176 square metres was applied.

"But it is more than the number of people working on the site at present."

The report stated that the proposal would also be consistent with the council's biodiversity strategy.

In October, the Central Coast Express newspaper reported Palmdale Group general manager Mr Brad Kennedy saying that Palmdale could cope for only 10 to15 years without additional land and that it was looking at vertical burials.

Council Agenda, ENV.79, 7 Dec 2010 Central Coast Express, 22 Oct 2010