Building Update - 1 September 2022

We thought we would give you an update about what has happened in regards to our building recently - which in short is not much!

As part of our MAP - Taking Flight process we were looking at some options of what could buildings be used for in this parish in the future and I am sure that has sparked some discussion and some ideas that might be floating around. There is really no limit to dreaming about what we could do with our buildings and what they could be used for.
Some examples include: restoring the brick building, demolishing the brick building and building a multi-purpose building, restoring the brick building exterior and modifying the interior as multi-purpose, building housing units on church land, creating a community hub for after-school clubs and social services, What are the social, spiritual, mental and physical needs in our community and how could we help meet them? How can we be good news in our community?

What dreams do you have?

The Diocese requires us to have a plan for mission in our area to be able to approve building projects so the MAP process is part of the first step regarding our mission here and what buildings would help us achieve that.

However, we're still a long way off making a decision on any future possibilities. Any big decision regarding any building requires a Special General Meeting.

The Brick Building
In July, we received a letter from the Council asking us for an engineering report  as they had identified that the building was potentially an earthquake risk. 
In working with the Diocese we provided the engineering report that was done a while ago (which subsequently meant we could not use the building).
Therefore you will see on the doors of the building there are now official notices from the council stating the risk of the building's earthquake rating. It also states on it that we have until 2 July 2037 to rectify the situation.

The Church Centre
Parish Council has spent quite a lot of time looking at the Parish Centre and how we keep it maintained for future use. It is coming up to 10 years next year since it was built and we would like to keep it functional and maintained so we do not end up with big bills all at once.
Therefore we have taken steps to get quotes to repaint the centre and we are putting together a Maintenance plan to make sure we are keeping up with the maintenance of all the elements of the building. For instance - when do we need to service all the doors and when should the floors be done?

Donations towards buildings
There has been some confusion recently over donations towards buildings. You are more than welcome to donate towards costs associated with our buildings. General donations towards buildings go into our general fund, where most of our expenses are paid from.

If you would like to donate towards the action required on the brick building, you are more than welcome to do this but please do recognise there is no decision on what that action would be. We cannot guarantee restoration or demolition at this stage. You can write 'Brick Building' on any of these donations.

Hope this is helpful and we look forward to more discussions on this in the near future.
Andrew Spence on behalf of the Co-Vicars and Wardens