‘Where are you going to build a cemetery in London?’ Planning Committee to consider cemetery proposal

CTV’s Bryan Bicknell reports on members of the Catholic diocese’s ask to approve a rezoning application so they can establish a new cemetery in south London.

London city councillors are being asked to approve a rezoning application to allow for a new cemetery.

And it may be long overdue. When it comes to burying those who have passed, London is running out of space, according to funeral director Joseph O’Neil of O’Neil Funeral Home.

He cites a number of factors, including an increase of Toronto-area families opting for less expensive plots outside the GTA, an increase in social assistance funerals by the city, and most notably, population growth in the London region.

“Because even though there’s more and more cremations, if we didn’t have the rate of rise of cremation, then the cemeteries would probably be all full by now. But if there’s just the absolute population growth, there’s lots of groups of people that will not or do not cremate for various reasons,” explained O’Neil.

The Catholic Diocese of London has applied to rezone land at 5150 Wellington Rd. S., next to the Catholic School Board administration office and Regina Mundi Catholic College.

Current Zoning allows for a community facility. The Diocese wants to turn the 15.6-hectare plot into a cemetery.

According to O’Neil, it would be the first new cemetery in several decades, with the exception of the Islamic Cemetery in south London, which opened in 2005. The newest London cemetery dates to the 1930s, with others dating as far back as the 1860s and 1870s.

London city Coun. Steve Lehman, who chair’s council’s Planning Committee, says such an application would be a first for him – but he says it appears to be an appropriate use of the land.

“Where are you going to build a cemetery in London? Are you going to put it downtown, in the midst of residential? We need that available land for building residential properties in high density. So, on the face of it, it seems like a pretty good spot for the cemetery,” said Lehman.

The municipality may be the least of the applicant’s concerns.

O’Neil said getting a cemetery built anywhere in Ontario involves jumping through bureaucratic hoops at many levels.

“NIMBYism is one big thing. And nowadays too, you’ve got to go through all the environmental laws, [you have to] do this and that. You’re dealing with so many layers of bureaucracy. They’re not just dealing with the city. They also have to deal with the Bereavement Authority of Ontario, and they have to meet standards. And then they also have to open up trust funds for perpetual care,” O’Neil explained.

A public participation meeting on the rezoning application is set for Jan. 27 at the next meeting of city council’s Planning Committee.