Almost 1,000 burial plots will be provided if plans for a major extension at St Patrick’s RC Cathedral cemetery are given the go-ahead.
And the proposal takes in part of the playing fields currently used by St Patrick’s Grammar School.
An official application for the development will be publicly advertised this week.
It has been submitted for consideration to Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Area Hospital.
The proposed extension is for the provision of an additional 960 burial plots and associated pathways.
There would also be the addition of a further 22 car parking spaces – including seven disabled bays – and an access link road with a pedestrian path from the Moy Road, via the existing public access to the Cathedral and grammar school.
The application also includes an access road within the site and around the burial area, a road link to the existing cemetery and landscaping and boundary fencing.
The proposal would involve the ground level to be raised by half a metre and this would be achieved by the controlled deposit of fill over the burial area.
The full site of the proposed cemetery extension is given as immediately south-east of the existing cemetery, and “within the college fields attached to St Patricks Grammar School and between Desart Lane Lower/Willowbank, Armagh and Moy Road”.
The plans have been in the offing for a while now.
As Armagh I revealed last April, the former Armagh City and District Council agreed in principle to enter into a ‘dual use’ arrangement with St Patrick’s Grammar School.
It followed receipt of a letter from St Patrick’s Cathedral Parish requesting use of Cathedral Road Recreation Centre by the school as it intended to extend the cemetery, which would take in part of the existing playing fields currently used by the Armagh school.
It was considered appropriate that, given the council’s policy of developing dual-use recreation facilities, where possible, approval in principle should be agreed.
Picture: LiamMcArdle.com
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