Council seeks site for new burial ground

A site has not yet been secured for the proposed newcemetery to serve Trim and the surrounding areas and Meath County Council is to advertise for expressions of interest from local landowners in the coming weeks.

It is estimated that St Loman's Cemetery on Newhaggard Road, will be able to provide new plots for an estimated three to five years and the need for a new burial ground has been known for some time. This new graveyard will not be provided by the Diocese of Meath and will be owned and managed by the Council similar to St Finian's Cemetery in Navan, St Declan's Cemetery in Ashbourne and the more recently opened Derrockstown Burial Garden in Dunshaughlin.
In last year's capital plan, the Council allocated €900,000 towards providing a new cemetery for the town and work has been ongoing to secure to a suitable site. Senior Engineer Caroline Corrigan explained that extensive criteria are examined as part of the site selection process and the “make or break” criterion is soil conditions. 
A site in the Dunganny area has been looked at by the Council but its distance from the town means it is not ideal. Expressions of interest from landowners will be invited by the council in the coming weeks to see if a more suitable site presents and if this is the case, these will be examined first.
A site of five to six acres would be required to allow space for car parking, care-taking facilities and toilets. Ms Corrigan said ideally it would be located within walking distance of the town to support sustainable travel but added that quite often it is difficult to source a sizable site that meets the soils criteria.
Even when a site is chosen, it will take six to 12 months to go through planning, and if successful another six to nine months to complete the detailed design and to tender the project before construction could start.
It is intended that the burial garden would have a design life of 50 years plus, but this could be greater as there is a continued upwards trend of cremation.
The burial garden will cater for both traditional burials and cremated remains and offer space for a memory or remembrance area.
Regarding existing capacity at St Lomans', Trim Parish Priest, Fr Sean Henry, said it is hard to gauge but estimates that new plots will be full in three to five years time. “That doesn't mean the cemetery will be full. It means nobody will be able to acquire a new plot but families with plots will be able to continue to bury their family members there,” he added.

The parish has land out the Longwood Road and while Fr Henry said they have no plans to develop a cemetery on that land, he said “should the Diocesan Trust be approached regarding this land, they might look kindly on providing some land as long as the Council developed the cemetery fully.”