Last year the tennis court and vicarage land was offered for sale through a real estate agent. After reviewing the offers, we decided with CPT (Church Property Trustees) to work with a shortlist of two potential buyers. One final offer was too low and had some other issues. The other offer was for just the tennis court land and excluded the vicarage land. Vestry decided to accept that offer, taking the real estate agent’s and CPT’s advice to ask for somewhat better terms than initially offered. During those negotiations the offer was withdrawn. That means that we were not able to sell the property.

Vestry, CPT and the Bishop are very disappointed that this sale did not go through—now the third time that a good sale for the land has not eventuated as potential buyers have pulled out at the last minute.

During marketing and with the offers coming in, it became clear that potential buyers seemed to prefer a clean title rather than having the boundaries adjusted after the sale. We are currently looking at having the boundaries adjusted and then marketing the land again, even though this will probably mean that the Council will first have to approve a subdivision before the sale and then again after the sale, as the titles are adjusted by the developer. Doing it this way will not be efficient, but it may correspond to market expectations. We will continue to work with other parties to see whether the alignment of the boundaries can also make the land more attractive to potential buyers. If the land were to be sold, some of the proceeds would be used for maintenance and some as an endowment to meet some of the costs of the Parish.

Unless the land can be sold or other income found, the financial future of the Parish looks somewhat uncertain. The Bishop has been appraised. He advised that if nothing had changed by the middle of the year, a fuller financial review would be undertaken, which would consider ministry and staffing at the Parish. We are also working with CPT to determine which funds held on behalf of the Parish can be used for ministry and continuing operations.

This is not the news we wanted to hear. But we have to work with the situation we are given. Your prayers at this time would also be appreciated.