A Chullora-based organisation is the driving force behind a new cemetery which is believed to be the first Muslim-only burial site in NSW.
The Garden Cemetery will have the capacity for 44,312 internments and will be set on 10ha in Greendale Rd, Bringelly.
According to Liverpool City Council, the original development application allowed for 14,490 burial plots, 4722 ash burials and 25,100 ash internments.
It will also include a visitor’s centre, caretaker’s lodge, car parking for 161 cars, and a proposed widening of Greendale Rd.
The development was originally rejected by Liverpool City Council in 2011, but the decision was overturned by the Land and Environment Court, which approved the masterplan.
The second stage of the development was approved by Liverpool City Council but The Garden Cemetery is currently seeking amendments.
The organisation wish to start operating the sharia-compliant cemetery without all of the originally identified site facilities and with an updated business model.
The modification applications are currently being assessed by the council.
While the organisation did not wish to comment to The Express at this stage, The Garden cemetery’s website shows that is already forward selling 1000 double plot graves.
“The Garden Cemetery was established to provide an affordable, holistic burial solution catering to the needs of the Muslim community,” the website reads.
The organisation also claims to be the first new cemetery to be established in Sydney since 1960.
The NSW Department of Industries is aware of two other Muslim cemeteries on its registry.
An Islamic cemetery in Narellan offers Muslim burials, but is located within the historic St Thomas Anglican Cemetery.
A second group in Marulan are seeking to build a Muslim-only cemetery, but the proposal is still going through the approval process.
If The Garden Cemetery will be the first exclusively Muslim burial site in the state.
GROUP SHOCKED BY ROOKWOOD CEMETERY’S PIG PLAN
The Garden Cemetery said many Muslims would find Rookwood Cemetery’s decision to bury 100 pigs as part of a soil study “quite shocking”.
The comments were made on the Facebook page of the Chullora-based organisation, which is planning to build a Muslim-only cemetery in Bringelly.
The pigs buried at Rookwood Cemetery are part of a six-year soil composition study to determine if more people can be laid to rest in the same plot.
Rookwood Cemetery CEO George Simpson said the cemetery was expected to reach capacity in the next 30 years and it was vital to think outside the square.
"(We) believe that it is the first (study) of its kind to be carried out anywhere in the world,” Mr Simpson said.
When asked if any religious group had raised concerns he said: “We have consulted with key communities on our soil research project and will continue to do so.”