Major new Derry cemetery: Council ready to move 'at pace' once planning secured

Detailed proposals for what will be Derry’s main cemetery for new burials in the decades to come are currently with planners awaiting decision.

A budget of £4.89 million has been set aside for the development to include land purchase, design and statutory fees.

The 18 acre cemetery on Mullenan Road close to the border with Donegal will contain around 4,000 burial plots and will cater for Derry’s burial needs until 2040 and potentially beyond.

There will also be a columbarium for ashes, a memorial garden, a garden of angels, a memorial service building and public amenities.

A Council spokesperson told the Journal: “Plans for the development of a new strategic West Bank cemetery for Derry City continue to progress and a planning application for the new cemetery has been submitted following an extensive public consultation exercise and will be determined by the Planning Committee in due course.

“Provision of burial capacity is a statutory requirement for Council and the project will progress at pace once planning approval is secured, with Council working towards a phased opening of the site in consideration of burial requirements.”

The current City Cemetery is running out of space for new burials, with over 800 new plots in late 2022 designed to extend its use ‘by a minimum of four years’.

It emerged last summer that separate proposals for a crematorium for Derry & Strabane and two neighbouring Councils – Fermanagh & Omagh District and Mid-Ulster – were “still being considered”.