Deloraine church’s new houses on the way

BUILDING HAS started on eight Deloraine units on land owned by St Mark’s Anglican Church.

The East Westbury Place project has been more than a year in the making, established as a fundraiser to cover the church’s funding obligation to the National Redress Scheme.

Rector of St Mark’s, Reverend Joshua Skeat, said the congregation hopes the units will be completed in December, providing accessible, affordable, quality accommodation.

‘The development is the product of significant thought about how this land might both be a blessing to the community of Deloraine and support the church in its mission to make disciples of Jesus.

‘We are excited to be able to invest into the community through this project.’

Six of the eight units will be sold to fund the project. The others will be retained by the church, providing rental income to support the work of St Mark’s in the community.

After the church service on Sunday 21 March, the congregation took the opportunity to pray over the building site, asking for God’s protection for workers during construction as well as for community members who will live in the units.

Rev Skeat said, ‘The gospel is all about drawing people together as community, through the saving work of Jesus. We can play a part in modelling and supporting that through the physical development here, and by continuing to strengthen the parish to support the Deloraine community in the future.’

Designed by local architects CMK, the project was made possible with pro bono work by Traders in Purple in the planning stage. The units are being built by Launceston’s Beardwood Pty Ltd and marketed by Key2 Property who recently acquired Quamby View Real Estate.

Parish project manager Nigel Morrison said, ‘It has been great to have the support and encouragement of this strong team as we have worked through the process of design and getting permits in place to allow us to start on site’.