‘Grave’ situation in Sydney: Largest city in Australia to run out of burial space?

Some Orthodox and Muslim communitieshave only three years until their allotted grave space in Sydney's crowncemeteries is full.The Eastern Orthodox faith, which includes Greek Orthodox, will run out of burial space in four and a half years.

The catastrophic situation has compelled the consolidation of three crown cemetery administrators - Rookwood general, northern metropolitan, and southern metropolitan - into a single unit, as reported by the Guardian.

How will the issue be resolved?

The new metropolitan cemeteries and crematoria property manager will be entrusted with solving the major difficulties confronting the Sydney cemetery and crematoria sector, as well as ensuring respectful and affordable burial and cremation services remain accessible for all, according to the NSW government.

“This merger will provide certainty for the industry, staff and consumers and a clear path to better manage our cemeteries so that the city’s burial needs are met and we can identify new efficiencies,” lands and property minister Steve Kamper told the Guardianon Friday.

As peran independent audit, the supply of graves for the Armenian and Antiochian Orthodox religions will run out in three years, the supply of graves for Muslim funerals would run out in four and a half years, and the supply of graves for the Eastern Orthodox faith will run out in four and a half years.

Burial is the sole internment method used by Muslims and Orthodox faiths.

It follows an independent study that indicated immediate action was required to fix "considerable" shortcomings in OneCrown's governance framework.

The Berejiklian Liberal government established OneCrown in 2021 in an attempt to consolidate NSW's five major royal cemetery operators and avoid financial disaster.

However, uncertainty over the project's future prevented major investment choices and resulted in the resignation of one in every three employees.

“The independent report that was released last month highlighted the disaster that the previous government created through indecision and infighting. We will not make the same mistakes,” Kamper said.

Funds needed to build new graves

The cost of establishing new graves ranges from $200 millionto $300 million.

Pinegrove Memorial Park, a crematorium in Minchinbury created more than 50 years ago, was Sydney's ultimate cemetery.

Sydney's population has grown by around three million since its founding in 1962, according to City Hub.

Greater Sydney will have 6.1 million inhabitants by 2033, raising concerns regarding the price of burial options for households as well as the availability of land, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

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