Fresh details of new 4000 plot cemetery near Derry/Donegal border that will cater for burials into 2040s

The new facility – which is urgently needed as burial capacity in the city is rapidly being exhausted – will be developed on a 7.3 hectare (18 acre) greenbelt site at 64 Mullenan Road that runs down over former farmland towards the River Foyle and the Ballougry Road.

The development – a few hundred metres from the Donegal border – will include burial space for approximately 4,000 plots, a columbarium for ashes, a memorial garden, a garden of angels, a memorial service building and public amenities.

Vehicular access to the cemetery will be from the Mullenan Road via a new gated entrance although a pedestrian and cycle link at Ballougry Road will facilitate onward access to the greenway out the ‘Line’.

Fresh details of the much needed new cemetery have been submitted in support of the council development.

A Planning, Design and Access Statement submitted by Braniff Associates in support of the application explains how capacity for burials in the city is slowly running out despite the recent move to expand the City Cemetery at Southway.

“In 2020 a review of capacity at the cemetery indicated that, based on an average plot uptake at that time of 150 plots per year, plot availability in Derry City cemetery would be depleted by 2023.

"Accordingly, planning permission was secured in 2021 to extend the existing cemetery at Southway by an additional 820 No. plots under planning application number LA11/2021/0382/F.

"Planning permission was granted for 950 plots but the need to widen footpaths, etc. reduced this number to 820. This extension has just been completed and interments are already taking place in these plots.

“As of December 2022 it is estimated that there is approximately six years capacity remaining at the City Cemetery. Likewise, there is 3 years capacity remaining at Ballyoan,” the statement indicates.

It goes on to explain that despite DC&SDC having acquired additional land from the Housing Executive (NIHE) further expansion at Southway is likely to be constrained by the sloping terrain, high cost per burial plot, and the presence of an underground water main.

The design statement outlines how the Council required a minimum site size of around 5.7 hectares (14 acres) to provide at least 3,000 new plots, enough to meet the city’s needs for another two decades.

However, the Council has had to work within a finite budget meaning it has selected a site well outside the city limits and very close to the border with Donegal.

“All projects by a public body in particular have to deliver value for money for the rates payer. In 2020 a budget of approximately £1.7m was allocated for the delivery of a new cemetery for the City, with acquisition costs accounting for circa £750K of this figure,” the Braniff analysis notes.

This budget ruled out anywhere within the city limits where – according to 2020 estimated land values – an average site would cost approximately £225,000 per acre and a 14 acre site would thus cost £3,150,000.

Cheaper options at Derry’s ‘Edge of Settlement Limit’ (£75,000 per acre; £1,050,000 for a 14 acre site) and in the ‘Rural area in West Bank’ (£17,500 per acre; £245,000 for a 14 acre site) in the city’s rural hinterland were thus the only ones that ‘can be considered viable for acquisition and development purposes’, according to the design statement.

Council embarks on consultation on proposed new cemetery

Over the past decade a range of sites outside the city limits have been considered.

These have included Groarty Road, Beragh Hill Road, Buncrana Road/Coshquin, Braehead Road, Killea, Nixon’s Corner, Thornhill College, Lenamore and Culmore Road/Coney Road.

In some cases, according to the Braniff report, ‘contact with respective landowners was made but negotiations faltered due mainly to the expectation of higher land values associated with the landowners’ view that this land could potentially be zoned for housing in the future’.

The design statement reports how the Council had been concentrating on a site at Killea which had been deemed the most suitable option for a new cemetery notwithstanding issues concerning ‘land costs and ground conditions’.

Work completed on 800 plot City Cemetery extension

It was at this point that the land subject to the current planning application became available.

"While the Council was investigating the potential of a site at Killea another sizeable site in the Council’s rural area came on the market. Its price per acre (circa £16K) is almost two thirds less than the price (£50K per acre) requested for the site at Killea,” the design statements notes.

The planning documents acknowledge that public transport links to the site need improvement but suggest it is the best available option given the budget for the project.

“It is important to highlight that genuine efforts to provide Derry/Londonderry with a new cemetery to meet its strategic, long term needs have been under investigation by the Council, both formally and informally, for the past decade and more.

"Having regard to the site selection criteria of suitability, availability and viability it has become patently clear during these investigations that there is little prospect of delivering a site for cemetery development within or on the edge of the settlement limit of Derry/Londonderry.

"Site unsuitability, high acquisition costs and the related non-availability of sites for cemetery use dictate that there is an overriding requirement to consider its development in the rural hinterland of Derry City.

"Viewed in the context of the above, the Council is respectfully requested to acknowledge that this application for a new strategic cemetery is acceptable in principle and that planning permission should therefore be granted for its development,” the design statement concludes.

Plans for new cemetery ‘progressing’