By Alan Healy
Deputy Editor
A ‘shortlist’ of sites has been identified for a new cemetery on the cityside of Derry, it has emerged.
It comes after the Derry News revealed in January that Derry City and Strabane Council were seeking lands on the west bank of Derry City to facilitate the development of a Municipal Cemetery
The council had previously warned that the City Cemetery on Lone Moor Road, which was extended in 2014, will reach full capacity within five years.
There are currently more than 77,200 people buried in the cemetery.
In February, the council issued an advert seeking expression s of interest from ‘owners of lands on the west bank of Derry City to facilitate the development of a Municipal Cemetery’.
The value of the tender was £250,000 with the contract to last six months.
The deadline for expressions of interest to be submitted to the council’s Chief Executive, John Kelpie, was February 23.
In statement issued to the Derry News on Friday, a spokesperson for the council said that a number of potential sites for the new cemetery had now been identified.
The statement was issued in response to the Derry News after a recent report presented at a council meeting revealed that little progress had been made in relation to securing the lands.
The report, presented at a recent meeting of the council’s Environment and Regeneration committee, stated that progress on the ‘site investigation’ for the new cemetery was at ’20 per cent’.
However, a council spokesperson said on Friday that it was ‘progressing with the plans’ for the new cemetery.
Council is currently progressing with plans to develop a new municipal cemetery within the wider Cityside area of Derry city,” the spokesperson said.
“Council recently received a number of submissions following a recent call for expressions of interest from those with lands available that could suit this purpose.
“A shortlist of sites has now been identified and further research is now taking place to scope the suitability of each site.”
The spokesperson added that the council is also progressing with further expansion at the City Cemetery to ‘increase the number of plots available’.
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