Demand for ashes storage expected to grow when crematorium opens

Councillors decided at a meeting behind closed doors in October that Sixmile Cemetery, at Moylena Road, was”the most suitable location” in the borough with “adequate space for 160 plots and potential for expansion to meet any future demand”, according to minutes.

Currently, the council provides a garden of remembrance in Carnmoney, Ballyclare and Mallusk cemeteries for the interment of ashes. However, there is no provision in the Antrim area.

The local authority is anticipating a rise in demand in line with an increase in cremations further to the opening of the new crematorium at Doagh Road, Newtownabbey, in June and declining burial space in the borough’s cemeteries.

The council has an estimated 13 years of burial capacity in its cemeteries overall and is continuing to “actively search” for potential new cemetery locations.

The authority is also seeking to establish a columbarium for the storage of ashes on the site of the old cemetery house at Carnmoney.

Of the 1,491 plots in the garden of remembrance, there are fewer than 287 remaining, meaning it has capacity for five to six years. There are no new burial plots available at Carnmoney Cemetery with committals only possible in existing family-owned plots.

Michelle Weir, Local Democracy Reporter