The prospect of selling the rectory, which the parish has to pay to keep in good condition, was raised at the end of a parish election meeting earlier this month.
It is currently the home of the Dean of Guernsey and St Andrew’s parish priest the Very Rev. Tim Barker and his wife.
A motion to sell the building was passed unanimously by the 25 meeting attendees, however some residents of St Andrew’s said that wording in La Gazette Officielle had not made it clear the matter was up for discussion.
The issue was contained under the heading ‘to receive reports concerning parish properties... and vote on proposals being made by the constables and douzaine.’
Senior constable Greg Robert confirmed that the issue would be debated and voted on again at the conclusion of a further meeting scheduled for Wednesday 26 November, to ratify the vote taken on 4 November.
‘We just wanted to be belt and braces, to give those that missed the first opportunity to vote,’ he said. ‘Some people had got in contact with us since the meeting because they weren’t aware that was one of the votes to be taken.
‘There might be people who come along now who are not aware of the history of the last four or five parish meetings where we’ve been discussing the rectory and heading towards this, they may attend and want to vote against, and it is their privilege to do so.’
Proposals passed at the last meeting supported selling the large Georgian rectory immediately and use proceeds to convert a barn at the site into a new dwelling for a rector, to fund temporary accommodation for the rector until the conversion was complete, and to make alterations to the church, including adding toilet facilities.
The sale of the rectory has been mooted for some time, with a resolution passed at a parish meeting in November 2023 authorising the constables to prepare for its sale, following the anticipated retirement of the incumbent rector, which was expected to be no later than August 2026.
Mr Robert said Mr Barker had agreed with douzaine’s plans.
‘It’s all been done with the rector’s approval, because you can’t, under a law that was enacted in 2015, sell a rectory without permission of the rector,’ he said. ‘The idea is if we do have an early sale, the rector would have to be accommodated in some way until his retirement, and certainly the barn would not be available in that timescale.’
Mr Robert said if the douzaine received the backing of the parish at the meeting at the end of November, then the rectory would be placed on the market almost immediately. ‘We would look to sell very soon afterwards and have made quite a lot of preparations in that regard,’ he said.
‘However it could take a year or two to sell the rectory and before you have the funds to carry out the other works. We’re not looking to raise funds in any other way.’
Prior to the vote on the rectory the parish will be looking to elect a new douzenier for one vacant seat. The deadline for nominations was on Friday.
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