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The Anglican Diocese of Wellington is “shocked and puzzled” to learn that a property developer plans to take him to court for acting in bad faith by selling him an old church.
Developer David Hitchins intends to sue the church for failing to immediately disclose that St. Matthew’s Church in Brooklyn was on the Wellington City Council’s draft heritage list, even though it has been given permission to continue Go ahead and demolish the deconsecrated building.
At the heart of the dispute: whether the church relayed the information about the possible heritage list as soon as it learned.
The church, on Washington Ave, was included on the preliminary list in late November, and the church was informed in early December. The diocese says it released the information in December, as soon as it learned of the possible listing, but Hitchins said it was too late because the deal had already become unconditional.
Hitchins said he would not have bought the church if he had known it was on the preliminary list, which devalued the property. He said he would take the church to court as a result, but had not yet produced legal documents.
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The heritage list will not be finalized until next year. The inclusion would make it much more difficult to get approval for any significant alterations to the 1969 building, and the changes would have to be publicly notified.
But because the building was only on the heritage list draft, the council approved the developer’s request to demolish the building, council spokesman Richard MacLean said.
TOMMY’S
Wellington City Council has confirmed that St. Matthew’s Church in Brooklyn can be demolished.
The Anglican diocese signed an agreement to sell the church in December of last year, and it was settled earlier this month.
The Anglican diocese had not been informed of the pending legal action, spokesman Ben Pringle said. “At this stage, we are as surprised and baffled by him as anyone else,” he said.
The deal was unconditional from early to mid-December, around the same time the council sent out its preliminary list and Hitchins was notified, he said.
The church was deconsecrated shortly before the settlement.
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The interior of the church.
The church’s neighbor, Daniel Clendon, asked the council to include the building on the preliminary heritage list.
“The church is a wonderful, bold and unique example of 1960s Modernist architecture in Wellington, by the masters Toomath and Wilson,” their application read.
Bill Toomath and Derek Wilson were prominent mid-century Wellington architects.
The council notified council members of the draft list in November and said it would notify owners “soon.” That email, which included the church, said that homeowners would be invited to speak to the council about their property values.
Building owners were notified of the draft listings before Christmas, MacLean said.
Real estate agent Nicki Cruickshank, who sold the old church to Hitchens, said she checked the heritage list before selling the building and that it was not there. She was unaware of the inclusion of the old church.
