It’s probably appropriate to give you an update on some property matters. The proposed development of the tennis court land and vicarage land has been passed to Church Property Trustees (CPT) and the Diocesan Standing Committee. Before those boards consider the proposal for sale and development of the land, they wanted to get some more information.
In particular, CPT felt that the valuations given by the two valuers were too far apart to approve the proposal. That’s why a process has now started to reconcile the valuations. This will involve further expense for the work done by the valuers.

Other matters that came up in conversations with CPT and the Diocese were:

a) Proceeds from the land on which the current vicarage stands will have to be accounted for separately. Those proceeds can only be used for a new vicarage and the general maintenance of the vicar. As far as I understand it, any regular income from the investment of those proceeds could also be used in helping to pay a stipend. In contrast, proceeds from the sale and development of the tennis courts are normally to be used for parish capital purposes.

b) It would be appreciated if the Parish as a result of the sale could contribute towards the wider Diocese. A contribution towards the Bishopric Estate acquiring property in the new development is suggested. That might mean that initially at least the Bishop’s house might be located in the new development, though it is unlikely that the Bishop (either the present or a future one) would live there.

The Church was repainted after the Canterbury Earthquakes. However, there were some issues with the paint finishes. This had been partly addressed by the contractor at the time. It seems that there are still some issues, even though these cannot only be attributed to faulty workmanship. Nevertheless, CPT—representing the insurer—has decided to award St Paul’s $11,250 towards repainting the Church. Thank you to Jennifer Barry for working on this with CPT. It certainly will come in handy the next time we will repaint the Church (which is probably not too far away).

Please don’t hesitate to talk to the Wardens, other Vestry members or me about those property issues.