The process for identifying Carnarvon as the preferred site for central Sydney

The process was undertaken by a multi-disciplinary team of external and internal specialists, including collaboratively working with relevant agencies within the NSW Government (including Property and Development NSW) over several months through a robust process that ensured consistency and prioritisation of new land opportunities.

MMP gained access to a database of blocks of land via the NSW Government "Land iQ" tool. Land iQ was developed by Property and Development NSW and brings more than 200 data sources to allow for faster and smarter strategic evaluations of how land can be used.

This process resulted in over 1,000 private and government sites being assessed. They were identified through previous knowledge held by MMP as well as LandiQ searches and aerial mapping. These searches were also supported by other property-based mapping and data systems, including products such as Mecone Mosaic Planning search and DP Data to assess owners, as well as physical viewings of many sites.

Following the first market scan, a long option list of potential sites was developed. Each site on the long list was evaluated based on the primary criteria to ensure they were viable options for further consideration, with the primary criteria being:

• Location
• Proximity and Size
• Planning Constraints
• Site Typology
• Community and Stakeholder

Importantly, both Location and Proximity and Size were critical when overlaying the future burial needs of the community. As stated previously by MMP, 66% of people who were buried or buried a loved-one at Rookwood in the past two years are from within 10kms of the site.

The long list of sites was then subjected to a technical and delivery feasibility assessment, which involved an evaluation of each site based on various secondary criteria, including:

• Price
• Access to services and accessibility
• Ease of Purchase
• Environmental
• Market impact

This phase of the work was completed based on desktop information available from sources such as the LandiQ tool or published information (such as local government websites) and would be subject to future detailed technical assessments, specific site-based analysis and investigations.

To provide more information regarding the approach to this phase of the work, MMP explored three key questions:

Question 1: Is it suitable?

• Contamination
• Soil profile
• Water table depth
• Topography flood hazard
• Flora and fauna
• Heritage significance
• Buffers and easements

Question 2: Is it permissible?

• Site access and traffic
• Land-use zoning
• Site ownership, classification and tenure

Question 3: Is it feasible?

• Land value and compensation
• Proximity to other cemeteries
• Community and stakeholder feedback
• Attainable burial plot yield
• Development staging
• Design flexibility
• Adaptive reuse of built structures

Following this extensive evaluation process, MMP has identified the Crown land that is currently leased to Carnarvon Golf Course as the preferred site for a modern memorial park in central Sydney.
 
Due to sensitivities and confidentiality of sites assessed, MMP is unable to release a report publicly, however we can confirm that the process involved assessment of 365 sites within a 15-kilometre diameter of Rookwood. These sites were all over 2.5 hectares in size (as MMP used this figure as a minimal size), with in the order of 50% of these 365 sites being owned by the NSW Government.