Trees removed to provide an extra 700 burial sites at Woronora Memorial Park

Ten large trees with heavy foliage have been cut down on the eastern side of the cemetery, next to Linden Street.

A retiree, who lives on an upper floor of an apartment block in nearby Robertson Street, said he used to have "a beautiful view to the west".

"Now, I see a lot of graves," he said.

"It's also an ecological issue - these were great big trees, and they have been removed overnight without any accountability."

Sutherland Shire Council informed the resident it had no authority over the cemetery, and it was the responsibility of the state government's Lands Department.

Ken Morrison, administrator, Metropolitan Memorial Parks told the Leader in a statement there was a need for more burial space in Sydney.

"As a Crown Land manager, our core remit is to maximise the use of our land to create dignified interment areas that meet community needs for burial and memorialisation," he said.

"Complementary to this, we manage our cemeteries as tranquil open spaces in our growing city, which are used and valued by our surrounding multi-faith communities.

"We are currently developing a new burial ground at Woronora Memorial Park that will provide an extra 700 burial sites to cater for future needs.

"While we have made every effort to maintain existing trees, to accommodate this development 10 trees had to be removed.

"We intend to replace as many trees as possible without encroaching on the burial area. This is in line with our ongoing tree management plan and tree replacement program.

"As this stage we are still determining exactly where the new plantings can go. While some of them may be along the fence line, others may have to be elsewhere."