In late 2008, the ACT government set aside a site on Mugga Lane for a third cemetery for Canberra.

Then chief minister Jon Stanhope said in early 2009 he expected work to begin on the cemetery the following year.

But, after an extension to the Woden cemetery was approved last year, the future of the development became uncertain.

However, the government was reluctant to state whether the plan had been scrapped.

"The government has been working toward a Southern Memorial Park, which includes a range of burial options, for some time. At this point, however, there is no timeframe for its development," a Transport Canberra and City Services spokesman said.

The need for a cemetery at Tuggeranong was prompted by dwindling space at the Woden cemetery.

There were concerns southsiders would have to be buried at the Gungahlin cemetery as the government kept pushing back the construction of the Tuggeranong cemetery.

However, with another three hectares to be opened for burial plots at Woden, the life of the cemetery could be extended by at least another decade.

Work to prepare the new burial plots would begin soon, with the extension to be completed either late this year or early next year, the government spokesman said.

But a crematorium also planned for the site looked less likely.

The Greens publicly opposed the construction of a new crematorium in a 2010 submission, instead pushing for options for natural burial. A natural burial site opened at the Gungahlin cemetery in 2015.

In 2013, ACT Public Cemeteries Authority chief executive officer Hamish Horne said he was confident a multi-million dollar facility would be operating in the city's south by late 2017.

But the government spokesman said the government was yet to make up its mind on whether a publicly-owned crematorium is warranted.

"At this stage, no decision has been made about a government crematorium. In reference to current crematorium services in the ACT these are offered by the private sector," he said.

Canberra Cemeteries data show a steady increase in preference for cremation over burial in the ACT over the past 15 years.

Ashes accounted for about one-fifth of interments in 2015-16, the Territory and Municipal Services annual report showed.

Whenever a decision is made, the cemetery will not be the only development on the site.

Work began last year on the Mugga Lane solar farm next door, almost three years after Chinese company Zhenfa won an ACT government contract to supply solar power.