A new cemetery, crematorium and public park is to be developed in west Dublin at a cost of £7.5 million. It will be known as Newland's Cross Cemetery and will cater for burials over at least the next 50 years. The cemetery will replace one in Palmerstown, which is virtually full with 9,000 burials since it opened 20 years ago.

The 115-acre site is part of the green belt between Clondalkin and Tallaght and is bounded by the M50, the Naas Road, Belgard Road and Kingswood Heights. About 50 acres are to be set aside for the cemetery, which will have over 30,000 graves. The first phase will open next year and the crematorium will be available from 2001. The remainder of the land is to developed as a public park and playing fields by South Dublin County Council. Mr George McCullough, manager of Dublin Cemeteries Committee, said the new cemetery would be "ideally sited to serve the population of west Dublin". The planned crematorium will also be needed as the existing crematorium chapel in Glasnevin is already operating at close to full capacity.

Although the number of cremations is growing steadily, it still only accounts for 4 per cent of all funerals compared with a figure of 72 per cent in the UK. There is a charge of £205 for a cremation compared with £490 for a grave in either Palmerstown or Dardistown. Glasnevin has run out of new graves and all burials there are in existing family plots. There are an average of four burials per grave.

Leading architect Andre Wejchert has designed three interlocking pavilions at the entrance of the new cemetery. One of them, to be known as the Temple Building, will be used for services of all denominations. There will also be a circular cloister meeting area and an administration building.

The complex will be faced with Irish limestone and granite and will be approached through an avenue lined with lime trees. The circular meeting area will be directly on the axis of the avenue and will consist of a columned, covered walkway around an open pool. The administration building will incorporate a coffee shop, flower shop, monuments display area, office and public lavatories.

Elsewhere in the park, the county council plan to provide sports dressing rooms for the public using the playing fields.