Anglican diocese’s $320m empire won’t be used for cathedral
The Anglican diocese has a $320 million empire of cash and properties, but it cannot be used to fund the $100m Christ Church Cathedral restoration.
The Church Property Trustees (CPT), a charity that oversees Anglican assets in Canterbury, owns $148m worth of land and buildings and has $171m in cash, according to 2015 financial statements. A search of public land records shows the CPT owns about 170 properties across Canterbury, with a few as far away as Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast.
The property portfolio mainly includes churches, but also a 188-hectare Hawke’s Bay forestry block with a rateable valuation of about $500,000, about 4ha of empty land suitable for residential development in Tai Tapu worth about $1.6m and an empty block of land opposite the Church of the Good Shepherd on the shores of Lake Tekapo worth $1m.
But an Anglican spokesman said the money and property was held ‘‘on trust’’ for parishes across the diocese and could not be spent outside each individual parish.
He said the few investment properties owned by CPT were ‘‘held to fund the ongoing operation of the church’’.
‘‘The CPT is the holding body for all the [parish] trusts.
‘‘You can’t take money from Papanui, for example, to pay central.’’
Bishop Victoria Matthews did not answer questions from The Press about the property and funds. Her response instead came in the form of a letter sent to all members of the Anglican diocese asking for their prayers.
‘‘The media is focusing on our cathedral in the square building again. I find this rather sad at the time when our thoughts are most naturally with the families of those who died, those who were injured and the very large number of people affected by February 22, 2011,’’ she wrote in the letter.
‘‘It is so easy for those outside the church to forget that we are actually seeking God’s will about the cathedral and reduce it all to dollars and cents.’’
But she did briefly address the CPT’s cash and property holdings: ‘‘I write to you at this time to simply remind you that we do hold land and investments, but that these are for parish and diocesan ministry and mission. CPT has no equity of its own.’’
The Anglican diocese’s finances have come under scrutiny as it negotiates with the Government over how to fund the $100m Christ Church Cathedral restoration.
The CPT has a $42m insurance payout on the cathedral to spend on the restoration, while campaign group Great Christchurch Buildings Trust (GCBT) has pledged to raise $15m from donors and about $10m has been offered by the Government.
Matthews is concerned it may prove difficult to raise money for the $30m funding shortfall on the project, according to sources close to the process.