Brave new owners sought for cemetery in haunted town

A DA-approved cemetery has hit the market in Australia’s most haunted town, offering a lucrative opportunity for developers brave enough to take on the massive undertaking. The four-hectare property comes with council approval for more than 3,500 burial plots, as well as a chapel, memorial gardens and a carpark. It’s located near the dead-centre of Picton, which is known as the most haunted town in Australia and is home to several spooky sites. The property has a price guide of $18 million and also includes a four-bedroom house with a swimming pool on a 1450sqm block that backs onto the future graveyard. Sales agent Thomas Mosca of Colliers said cemeteries could be lucrative development opportunities with significant upside. “Getting approval for a cemetery often comes with a pretty strong value proposition,” he said. “We’re targeting the traditional cemetery operators, but also private groups who know how to operate a cemetery business and may even have other properties suitable for such business endeavours.” He said plans for a cemetery allowed the owners to capitalise on the significant landholding in the southwestern Sydney growth corridor, which required a creative development solution as it was unlikely to be approved for housing given its proximity to flood-prone Stonequarry Creek. “You’ve got to look at ways you can add value to the land,” he said. “The reality is that we’re going to need more cemeteries in the future.” “Picton is a growing town and it’s a good opportunity because there aren’t many cemeteries around.” An audit into the Sydney’s crown cemeteries last year found there was a “critical shortage” of grave sites, given suitable vacant land is in short supply. Burials are big business too, with a 2023 Australian Seniors report finding the average cost of a burial plot was $12,766 in metropolitan Sydney and $5,788 in regional NSW. The Picton property could prove a profitable undertaking based on those figures, with the site potentially generating tens of millions of dollars in revenue, assuming all 3,500-plus grave sites became occupied. Australasian Cemeteries and Crematoria Association chief executive Ben Kelly estimated a cemetery of that size could accomodate several hundred burials per year, allowing for an extensive period of operation when also accounting for cremations. “They can be quite profitable if run well, depending on what products you’re offering to people,” he said. “It’s not uncommon for sites with monuments and headstones to cost tens of thousands of dollars.” Picton is known for its ghostly attractions, including a former train tunnel believed to be haunted a woman who died there more than 100 years ago. Locals have also reported hearing the sounds of children playing at the nearby St Mark’s Cemetery, where early settlers in the area are buried, while creepy splashing sounds are said to come from Stonequarry Creek, which forms one of the boundaries of the future cemetery. St Mark’s Graveyard in Picton is one of the town’s many sites that are believed to be haunted. Picture: Robert Pozo / Daily Telegraph Ghost tours of the town were conducted each weekend, before being shut down by the council due to complaints from neighbours spooked by night time disturbances. The Picton property isn’t the only cemetery currently on the market, with an established and active cemetery and church in Gretna in Tasmania, now under offer after after being listed with offers over $150,000. According to the listing, the new owner would need to apply for a cemetery manager’s licence to take custodianship of the “many hundreds of people from all walks of life who have been laid to rest in this peaceful cemetery”. Meanwhile at Kangaloon in the NSW southern highlands, a heritage-listed 142-year-old church and cemetery with a price guide of $1.295 million. It comes with approved plans for a three-bedroom home and double garage adjacent to the existing graveyard.