The Thornbury Clarksburg Union Cemetery Master Plan was completed by the Town of The Blue Mountains in collaboration with LEES+Associates in November 2023. The plan has been created to guide the future operations, care, and development of the Thornbury Clarksburg Union Cemetery site to ensure the longāterm sustainability of cemetery services over the next 25 years.
The Master Plan identified the following high-priority recommendations:
- Fast-track the cremation garden concept design around the existing square columbarium
- Excavate test graves on the proposed burial expansion areas to ensure the ground water is below the bottom of a grave
- Avoid new internments that will impact the implementation of the geometry of access routes proposed in the concept designs for the burial expansion areas
- Introduce signage and entrance markers
- Develop initial phase of green burial area
- Expand existing columbaria with initial phase of one to four unit expansion
It also identified the following low-priority recommendations:
- Complete a GPR survey in the old section to determine available lots
- Remove the oversized parking area and create a linear cremation garden walk
- Develop a tree planting strategy
- Retain the two notable trees that are already registered/ recognized as part of any burial expansion designs
- Reduce lawn maintenance by converting all future green burial areas (and future burial areas in general) to meadow lawn
- Evaluate staffing needs with each phase of expansion and/ or increase in service level
Council Adoption of Master Plan
The Thornbury-Clarksburg Union Cemetery Master Plan was completed in November 2023, and adopted by Council at their meeting on November 20, 2023. Council approved the Master Plan as presented with any elements requiring funding to be considered through future budgets. They also approved Concept Plan B (Arc Concept) for the site expansion plan as referenced in Staff Report CSOPS.23.045 and directed staff to prioritize green burial in the workplan.