Dear friends

Redevelopment Progress since May 22 2008

After reporting progress to the Annual Church Meeting last week I was asked to produce a shorter version for the bulletin so here goes.

 

To start with, when we showed drawings of possible premises last year we had two possible partners to share them with. There is no way we could afford to redevelop our present site without partners to share the costs.

The leader of one of our prospective partners, CVS, became ill and was off work for a considerable period during which little direct progress could be made.

Then in August the other prospective partner, the Emmaus organisation had to withdraw since their timescale for completion of their involvement would have been around five years and we couldn’t survive that long.

 

Finally, after Christmas and the New Year, CVS came back on line again and they confirmed their desire to be part of the development so we started talking again in earnest.

 

We realised that we would need a solicitor to advise us on setting up a formal partnership with CVS and other developmental matters and are about to appoint the Mr David Walton the current Vice President of the Methodist Conference whose day job is that of a solicitor!

In the meantime CVS have started to apply for funding. The possible funders required a business plan and formal estimate of the project costs so we have appointed a Quantity surveyor who has very rapidly provided an estimate of 4.8 Million Pounds!

 

We have had a tenants meeting over a light lunch to explain our plans and enable them and us to become more of a community. We feel that it is important that our current tenants stay with us if at all possible and intend to have regular similar meetings with them.

 

Things seemed to be progressing quite rapidly at last until, at a meeting last week with our local councillor and members of the planning department; we gained the impression that gaining permission to demolish the listed Queens Hall might not be as easy as we had hoped.  Please pray with us that we will be given permission or that alternative schemes that our architect is drawing up will enable us to make a silk purse out of a sows lug!

 

We haven’t so far released much in the way of detail so as not to raise hopes and then to dash them but we intend to hold a whole church envisioning day in the near future when we know just what is possible so that you can all become part of this vision for Christ’s work in our City Centre.

 

David R for the Redevelopment Group, Luke, Peter, David and David.

 

(If you wish to see the full report, please ask David R for a copy)