Two meetings on woodland burial

Two meetings on woodland burial

22 February 2017

TWO public meetings will be held in Saul this week to discuss plans to create Northern Ireland’s first woodland burial site at Lough Money outside Downpatrick.

A community meeting will be held on Thursday at 7.30pm in the Parish Centre at Saint Patrick’s Church to discuss concern about the impact the eco-graveyard might have on local infrastructure. That event will be followed by a meeting on Saturday organised by the group behind the woodland burial site plan, Down to Earth NI.

The idea behind the community-led green graveyard, in which trees and wildflowers would replace traditional headstones to create a memorial nature reserve, was first publicly outlined at a meeting earlier this month.

At that meeting, members of the co-operative organisation, Down to Earth NI, explained that cardboard and wicker would be used instead of wooden coffins in the proposed green graveyard where plots would be simply marked with trees and identified through GPS technology.

The organisation confirmed that it attracted over 200 expressions of interest from the public during the launch of its first share offer almost two years ago and was now working towards planning and site preparation.

After a mixed reaction from the audience, Saul resident, Aurla McLaughlin, has arranged Thursday’s community meeting to better assess local opinion.

Aurla, who is disappointed by the lack of information available about the proposal, has urged people from the area to attend Thursday’s meeting.

She said she felt frustrated by Down to Earth representatives’ response to questions about increased volume of traffic on existing infrastructure and was concerned about the lack of detail on projected burial numbers or details of a five year business plan.

She said the community had also raised concerns about the environment, the existing waterways currently used for fishing, recreation and potential disruption to the natural habitat.

“The meeting is for local residents to fully understand the impact the burial site will have on the local landscape, the road infrastructure and the community,” she said.

“Following the organised meeting by Down to Earth NI, a lot of local residents have highlighted the lack of information being freely provided and also wanting to ensure that the local community is both informed and organised to ensure the best decision is made with the views of local residents.

“Saul, Raholp, Ballyculter, Ballynagross, Ballyalton and further afield, all of these areas will be impacted by this project and we need every resident to have their say.

“We can create a focus group to represent the voice of the community and to apply rigour to the probing process resulting in definitive answers from Down to Earth NI on both their short and long term objectives for this proposal. 

“The group will also seek engagement from the other agencies, government departments and local councillors before they can move forward.”

Aurla said she was delighted to be supported by SDLP councillor Gareth Sharvin, who said he was aware of public concern.

“The Ballyculter Road has not been built to provide for a high volume of traffic,” he said.

“If you take a typical funeral and there are 100 people attending, you can assume the majority of them will be driving an individual car. 

“The Ballyculter road could not cope with that volume and will impact on the local farming, residents and commuters.”

The Down To Earth co-operative is also due to host a second community consultation meeting this Saturday at Paddy’s Barn in Saul from 12.30pm to 2.30pm.

A third meeting is also scheduled for Saturday, March 25, between 12.30pm and 2.30pm.

Organisers say the meetings will be held in advance of a formal planning application being lodged for the proposed burial site, with Down to Earth (NI) keen to meet with individuals or groups who have an interest in the issue.