24th June, 2025.
Some people might think that the proposed Douglas Park cemetery might be needed for the number of burial plots, but it is not worth the risk to the environment, the residents and the visitors who would risk their lives driving to visit loved ones. The proposal is for 37,000 lots and a crematorium in a rural block attached to—guess what—no infrastructure. The proposed site is right next to the Hume Highway, but it is not directly accessible. The site is just over three kilometres from Douglas Park township, which is 11 kilometres from the Picton Road interchange. Close to 1.4 kilometres of the drive from Douglas Park is a single‑lane steep embankment, which currently has traffic lights to stop cars passing each other. The cars almost look like they will fall off the cliff. The overhanging rocks are a danger. Even with the warning signs and traffic lights, motorists get frustrated and ignore the warnings. They risk it, causing near head-on collisions.
The current traffic load is at capacity, without even considering the growth that will come. The other way around is through Picton Road, and then through the original village of Wilton and along Douglas Park Drive. That way is through a village and up roads that are inadequate for a State significant development. The roads are poorly maintained by the council. The 17,000 square metre block is built on heavy sandstone rock that will need to be crumbled and added to fill, in order to bury anything in it. At present, one cannot even dig a hole to plant a tree beyond the native bushes that have grown in the sandstone cracks.
The site is close to the intersection of the Cataract and the Nepean rivers. Native wildlife uses the site. Neighbouring properties share the rural residential lifestyle with the natural wildlife, without working against it. There are budgies, goannas and wallabies that cross through the area. The area is not entirely bush; there is cleared land, such as for the Catholic Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, as well as for farm and residential use. However, the point remains that there are no shops, nor is there any core infrastructure adjoining the block. There are none of the core services needed by a development of the size the applicant is seeking. There is no gas connection for the crematorium. There are no high voltage lines with extra capacity.
I know that the approved developments surrounding Douglas Park at Wilton and Appin are stalled because of the lack of infrastructure. Instead of aiming to go inside one of those development areas and creating a cemetery that would be welcomed, and that adjoins bushland, the developers have chosen the wrong site. The concept plan was passed due to an allowance in the local environmental plan—a discrepancy not unlike other discrepancies in some other councils for other matters. I am aware that, after consultation, Wollondilly councillors have come together with the community to get through a robust planning proposal to back their residents. I thank the councillors for listening to me and to the community about the concerns about the development, including the incompatible zones.
The State significant development has a long way to go. I know the residents have been fighting this for a long time. I hear them, and I am glad to say that the councillors hear them as well. I look forward to the State signing off on the change to the local environmental plan to make it consistent with the surrounding councils and the standard instrument. This is just the beginning of the next chapter of making submissions. I thank the residents, in particular the McConchie family, who have stayed in touch with me and my office throughout the extensive process. I thank the ever‑knowledgeable Sam Davis, whose research has assisted greatly. Regardless of the outcome, they should all be proud of leaving no options unexplored. As the local member, I am proud to represent them.