Expanded burial services and a new privacy hedge are planned for Coquitlam’s cemetery over the coming year.
COQUITLAM, B.C., Oct. 20, 2020 – Expanded burial services and a new privacy hedge are planned for Coquitlam’s cemetery over the coming year.
The upgrades – part of the first of three phases in the 20-year Cemetery Services Plan (CSP) adopted in 2019 – will allow the City to expand the current limited burial options available at the cemetery and allow for the addition of new services.
A new vegetation buffer along Foster Avenue and parts of Robinson Street will also be part of the detailed design coming in late fall for improvements next year.
On-site signage and information mailed to neighbouring residents will provide more detail on the planned work. The full plan is available at www.coquitlam.ca/cemeteryplan.
New Vegetation Buffer and Services
As part of the first phase of CSP improvements, the City will plant a continuous Portuguese Laurel evergreen hedge along Foster Avenue and the north end of Robinson Street to match existing hedges on the site. The new buffer will increase privacy for cemetery visitors and improve the site’s appearance for neighbours and passersby. While adding the hedge, the City intends to retain all of the healthy and safe trees around the perimeter, based on an assessment by a Registered Professional Forester.
Other improvements planned for the first phase will allow for improved services that meet both short-term and long-term community needs, including cremation plots, green burials with both common and individual markers, a scattering garden for loved ones’ ashes with a common memorial marker, and accommodation for co-burials with both double-depth crypts and family cremation estates.
The first part of this initial phase will occur in the south end of the cemetery this fall. The remainder of Phase 1 will start next year in the north end pending Council approval of the final design and budget.
About the Cemetery Services Plan
The need to develop a Cemetery Services Plan was identified in the Parks, Recreation & Culture Master Plan. With space for full burial plots reaching capacity in the next few years, the plan will help address this need while guiding the City’s cemetery services until 2039.
Improvements are planned in three phases: Phase 1 in 2020/2021, Phase 2 in 2023 and Phase 3 in 2030. A copy of the plan can be found at www.coquitlam.ca/cemeteryplan.
About Robinson Cemetery
Robinson Memorial Park Cemetery is a 3.4-hectare (8.5-acre) site in Southwest Coquitlam, owned and operated by the City, and has been in operation since 1935. The cemetery offers full burial services to current and former residents of Coquitlam as well as cremation burial options for the general public, and operates on a direct cost-recovery basis.
More information about cemetery services is posted at www.coquitlam.ca/cemetery.
Media contact:
Lanny Englund
Manager, Parks Planning & Forestry
City of Coquitlam
604-927-3549
lenglund@coquitlam.ca