Cooroy cemetery will require expansion, and for now, 62 lake Macdonald Drive is still available
Cemetery amenity
Let's not put a dense and potentially noisy housing development on the cemetery land
Despite public statements to the contrary, Council's own records state 62 Lake Macdonald Drive (Lot 105) "was purchased by council in 1999 to accommodate the future expansion of the Cooroy cemetery". This makes perfect sense as it is literally on the edge of the cemetery. Council in fact put up its own DA to enable funery use of 62 Lake Macdonald Dr in 2008, and this was approved in the time of council amalgamations. The land had earlier been held under special lease from the QLD Lands Department for future cemetery use until 1970 when the lease was changed to private freehold.
Council even obtained advice in June 2024 that it is of high importance and high urgency to add the cemetery to the local heritage register, and high importance and medium urgency to investigate ways to protect the eastern pine plantation!!
Considering an increasing and ageing population in 2024 compared to 2008, it is shortsighted of Council to leave 0.8ha of land for cemetery expansion in 2024 when it itself concluded 3.5ha in 2008 would last the shire 50 years if the population did not exceed 65,000. The current QLD Regional plan forecasts Noosa's population to grow to 75,700 by 2046, only 22 years from now! The maths is not difficult - all of 62 Lake Macdonald Dr is needed for the cemetery.
Besides neglecting Council's fundamental planning responsibility to provide funery land in the shire forever, deforestation and construction of a high-medium density housing development over a period of approx. 5 years with the addition of hundreds of close neighbours would negatively impact funerary rites and site amenity for visitors to the cemetery forever.
Cooroy cemetery is the easiest cemetery to expand in Noosa shire. The Tewantin and Pomona cemeteries are smaller and more or less confined to their present boundary. With demand for housing land and land costs expected to increase it is difficult to imagine Council being able to acquire another suitable site for a cemetery. 62 Lake Macdonald Dr is already part of Cooroy cemetery, owned by Council, requires no radical change of use, and irrespective of funery trends will still be needed in over 100 years.
It is not unusual to see walkers, and newly grieving relatives, sitting at sunset on a gravesite, alone or in a group. Cemetery users deserve the opportunity to sit undisturbed as they unwind, or remember and grieve.
One Cooroy resident said the Cooroy Cemetery was chosen as her husband's final resting place because of its location, the view and the tranquility.
"We chose the highest plot on the hill for the best view possible. We lived on a farm and my husband always loved to watch the storms rolling in. It’s so peaceful up there, it's just perfect. I visit my husband regularly. It’s very private. I feel safe there on my own, even when it’s late."
Our counter proposal to Council promotes cemetery enhancement. A serene bushland internment area at the un-contaminated Gympie Messmate bushland is proposed, and possibly another internment area amongst the southern pine forest. These enhancements, along with retaining habitat for wildlife, would make the Cooroy Cemetery the most unique and beautiful final resting place in Noosa Shire. As recommended in Council's own Cooroy Cemetery Conservation Management Plan (June 2024), a 'Friends of the Cooroy Cemetery' group should be formed to further care for, and honour, this special historic location.
