Castel to sell rectory and build new one off Neuve Rue
The Castel parish is to look to sell its rectory and build a new one on glebe land near the parish church.
It is hoping to make about £2m. from the sale, which will go towards the cost of a new rectory, with the remainder set against expensive repairs likely for the church in future.
A parish rector has not lived in the rectory, which is in the grounds of the church of St Matthew’s at Cobo, for more than two years. The property was rented out at a cost of £4,000 a month until June this year, and now stands vacant.
The parish said that it was impractical to let the property again without significant investment into fixtures and fittings, and as a home it was too big and expensive for a rector to want to live in.
‘It feels like we’re fighting a losing battle to maintain it,’ said senior constable Kelvin Hudson.
St Matthew’s is currently served by a local priest who lives in her own home, while the parish rector is only engaged part-time and living in a rented flat, paid for by the parish, in St Peter Port.
The parish douzaine backed the proposal to sell.
It intends to use some of the proceeds to build a new rectory on land off the Neuve Rue, near the Castel Hospital, where two derelict barns could be converted. The parish believes its prospects of securing permission to build are positive.
And the Dean of the Guernsey, the Rev. Tim Barker, was also supportive.
He described it as ‘an admirable solution that may be of interest to other parishes’.
The meeting noted that there was ‘plenty of history and character’ in the rectory but concerns were ameliorated when it was confirmed that the building was listed.
Parishioners backed the proposal by a four-to-one majority.
Under the terms of the purchase of the rectory by the parish from the trustees of St Matthew’s in the 1990s, the building must be offered back to the trustees to buy back before any sale is concluded.
Mr Hudson said that this would only happen once a suitable offer had been received.
