An Inside Look: Pinegrove

    Pinegrove Memorial Park is a cemetery and crematorium that is also a very important centre for InvoCare.  It is a relatively new place and as such it is notably different from other cemeteries.  For example the roads tend to be wider and the curb is slopped and low rather than high or square.

    Pinegrove is owned and operated by InvoCare.


Location:
    Pinegrove is located on Kington St, Minchinbury NSW 2770.

Getting there:
    The main entrance is Kington St, as you enter the main office will be on the left.  The crematorium is a little further down the road, past the roundabout.

    If you are driving Eastbound along the Great Western Hwy you can easily do a left onto Kington St.  However if you are going Westbound along the highway you will need to do a right.  While you 'can' turn right into Kington St it can be difficult with traffic.  Instead you can do a right at Michinbury St a little West of Kington St.

    This is the same for getting out of the cemetery, while you can do a right out onot the Great Western Hwy it is easier (especially with a cortege) to use Mitchinbury St.


Importance:
    Something not many people know about Pinegrove is that it is one of the "centres" for InvoCare.  This is where a lot of bodies are prepared and coffined, or transfered through.  Many bodies going in or out of Sydney through the West are transfered through Pinegrove.  For example the Sydney transfer crew will take a load of bodies to Pinegrove, drop them off and go back to Sydney.  An interstate crew will then go to Pinegrove, pick up the bodies and take them on their way out.  It is a very efficient system (which InvoCare is great at).

    A lot of bodies are prepared at Pinegrove, not as many as at other InvoCare centres, but more than at most funeral homes.  Staff can work in the mortuary all day just preparing and coffining bodies.

    Pinegrove is also a training centre with many InvoCare staff being trained here.  It has a special building and car park for training and other similar reasons.  The training done here is actually very good, the best work-place training I have done for any company.  Not only do they provide good food but the training is very informative and very fun.

     So there it is, Pinegrove is more important for the funeral industry in Sydney than many would assume.  It is a transfer centre, a preparation centre and a training centre.

Facilities:

    There are a few facilities at Woronora, from a crematorium to a cafe.

Crematorium:

    The crematorium has a lot of parking, all of which is quite close to the chapels.  One issue with this is how hot it can get in the sun.  Outside in the car park in summer can be quite hot because the large car park soaks up the heat.  Thankfully all of the chapels air-conditioned and there is a shade cover outside over the door.  There are three chapels, named after points on the compus.

    I will not discuss each chapel individually as they are all very similar.  They are all relatively big, modern in design and have the same features (such as a TV, speakers, AudioVisual system, etc).

Cemetery:
     The cemetery here is usually flat and solid, which makes walking around it easy.  It is a fairly new cemetery so there is plenty of spare land.  It is also a well maintained cemetery, being owned and managed by InvoCare.  InvoCare is very particular about keeping things in order and well maintained.

Parking:
    Being a newer cemetery and crematorium there is plenty of parking and the roads are wide, which means people do not get parked in.  It is easy to drive around, easy to navigate and easy to find a spot to park.

Useful Info & Links:

Contact:

Phone: (02) 9625 8066
Fax: (02) 9675 2296

Contact page.

Information request form.

Home website.

Map.

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