Aussie council's bold new plan to combat $1.5 million issue at iconic graveyard

Yahoo

4 days ago

In rapidly growing cities like Sydney, real estate is scarce. And when it comes to cemetery space and burial plots, even more so.
Across the country, the lack of supply appears to be worst in NSW, where a 2023 audit conducted by the state's planning department found there was a "critical shortage" of gravesites around Sydney. According to the audit, multiple faith-run cemeteries in particular are set to run out of burial space within just a few years, reflecting the dire state of the shortage.
In the city's east, Waverley Cemetery — known as one of Australia's most beautiful for its seaside location and notable Victorian and Edwardian monuments — is also running low on plots. In addition, due to its coastal location on top of the cliffs at Bronte, it also continues to cop a battering from the weather, wearing down numerous structures.
Waverley Council itself said that there is a large number of "significant and historic monuments and vaults that continue to fall into disrepair". It states that at present, maintenance costs have reached $1.5 million per year.
Now, in response, the council is working on a "memorial wall" for ashes, which it hopes will significantly reduce gravesite congestion, while allowing extra opportunity for those who wish to be buried there. The plans include 20 memorial walls parallel to the existing sandstone wall of Quinn Road. Each wall is set to contain 36 ash interment niches that people can lease long-term.
Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, a Waverley spokesman said council "wants to sustain the financial viability of the cemetery now and into the future", and "niche walls will help us achieve this".
"The memorial wall represents the most effective and sensitive way to meet these constraints," he said.
Mock images show dozens of letter-box-looking cubes embedded along the walls of the cemetery, not too dissimilar from what you'd see at the post office. As for the cost, prospective occupants, or their loved ones, can expect to fork out $8,540, according to council.
"As per council's fees and charges, the current fee for a single ash interment niche is $8,540, which includes the niche space, the interment fee, and a bronze plaque," the spokesperson said.
Waverley Cemetery currently charges $4,536 for a standard coffin or casket interment on weekdays, with additional fees for weekend services ($622). The purchase of a 25-year renewable interment right (essentially the burial plot) costs $28,330, according to the 2024–2025 official price list.
For those opting to inter ashes instead of a full burial, the standard interment fee is $1,270, with niche wall and memorial garden options ranging from $4,200 to $26,480, depending on the location and exclusivity. While these prices may seem higher due to the sought-after location, they're cheaper than many recently advertised online.
Last year, Yahoo found cemetery plots being advertised on Facebook Marketplace for tens of thousands of dollars, with some graves — including in cemeteries such as Waverley — being marketed at upwards of $50,000. We saw several listed with asking prices between $70,000 and $100,000 at the time in 2024.
The trend has continued in 2025, and as of Thursday, June 26, a plot at Waverley is listed for an astonishing $165,000.
Council hopes the memorial wall will ease some of the demand, stating that it cannot expand the cemetery any further. "Waverley Council has no plans to expand the boundaries of Waverley Cemetery, as we are completely constrained by the built environments that surround the cemetery," the spokesperson explained.
"There are limited sites currently available for burial. Council also faces rising costs of maintenance.
In April, Sydney's first new Crown cemetery in over 85 years opened in Varroville, offering 136,000 burial plots. Additional cemeteries are also planned in locations such as Lidcombe to help address the ongoing shortage of burial space.
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Memorial walls with ash niches have already proven popular along the cemetery's northern edge, and demand for more remains strong, according to Waverley. The development is set to cost $2.3 million.
"The memorialisation walls are envisaged to be bespoke in design and a reflection of the heritage significance of the cemetery, consistent with the late Victorian and Federation era headstones, monuments and other infrastructure," council states online.
"The project will also include the installation of new benches and minor landscaping."
Notable inhabitants of the cemetery include Henry Lawson (1867–1922), one of Australia's most famous poets and short story writers, Dorothea Mackellar (1885–1968), another celebrated poet, and Sir James Martin (1820–1886), former premier of New South Wales.
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