Canberrans who wish to end their days on the southside may have to be buried on the northside if a new cemetery at Tuggeranong is not built in time.
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The ACT government says it's an unlikely scenario but has not ruled out the possibility of Gungahlin cemetery taking the overflow should Woden cemetery reach capacity before a new cemetery near the Mugga Lane tip is built.
The government is planning a $10 million cemetery and crematorium on 226 hectares of land on the southern side of the intersection of Mugga Lane and Long Gully Road, close to Fadden and Macarthur, because Woden cemetery is expected to reach capacity by 2017-18.
The government initially expected work to start on the cemetery and crematorium in 2010.
Last year, then chief minister Jon Stanhope announced $727,000 had been allocated towards a master plan for the new Southern Memorial Park, with hopes the complex would be completed by 2014.
Now the government says construction of the cemetery will start in 2013-14. No money was allocated towards the cemetery and crematorium complex in this week's budget.
Kathy McIntosh, of Garran, was at Woden cemetery yesterday visiting the grave of her sister Chrissy Nebauer on what would have been her sister's 58th birthday.
Ms McIntosh said she and her seven siblings, as well as their elderly parents, all lived on the southside and would not be happy if, in the future, they had to bury a family member at Gungahlin.
She visited her sister's grave once a week, not least because it was close to home.
''If it was in Gungahlin we wouldn't be in a position to do that, especially our parents,'' she said.
A spokeswoman for Territory and Municipal Services Minister Katy Gallagher said the board of the ACT Public Cemeteries Authority had been briefed on the first draft of the masterplan and was happy with the concepts outlined.
The final masterplan was expected to be completed by the end of this month.
''Subject to the board's approval, and the government's consideration, a detailed design will be completed by December 2012 enabling a budget bid to be prepared for the commencement of construction in 2013-14,'' the spokeswoman said.
A community discussion paper released by the cemeteries authority in January 2010 said Woden cemetery was filling up.
''There are approximately 1500 burial allotments remaining and the average number of allotments occupied each year is 200. This means all available allotments are likely to be filled within eight years,'' the report said.
However, a spokesman for Territory and Municipal Services said yesterday that, while Woden would still cater for burials ''for many years to come'', how many was still unknown.
''How soon Woden cemetery reaches capacity depends on the take up of graves and the changing mix of burials and cremations each year, both of which impacts on the life of the cemeteries. The gradual increase in the proportion of cremations extends the availability of burial allotments,'' he said.
The cemeteries authority remained ''focused on delivery of the southern cemetery prior to Woden cemetery reaching capacity''.
''In the unlikely event that Woden reaches capacity before a new southern memorial park is ready, Gungahlin cemetery has capacity, and is available, to cope with any additional demand,'' he said.
A telephone survey of 1000 Canberra residents in 2009 found more than 80 per cent supported a new cemetery. A total of 85 per cent of respondents supported a new crematorium and 92 per cent supported it being built on the same site as the cemetery. Six per cent did not support a crematorium, with 1 per cent citing environmental concerns.
Greens' territory and municipal services spokeswoman Caroline Le Couteur said this week the Greens still did not accept there was sufficient demand for a second crematorium in the ACT. She believed the current crematorium at Norwood Park was not operating at full capacity, even though it does not publicly release its figures.
A submission by the Greens in 2010 said it was ''environmentally short-sighted to encourage widespread use of cremation'' and ''cremation is a method of corpse disposal that produces significant greenhouse gases''.
The Greens accepted a new cemetery should be built in south Canberra but believed instead of a crematorium, the option of natural burials using using biodegradable coffins or a biodegradable shroud should be promoted.
