Almost four years since the site was earmarked for sale to fund the National Redress Scheme for historic sex abuse, St Peters Anglican Church in St Leonards has been placed on the market and could be sold as early as next week.
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The listing marks the first time the church, which is owned by Church of England trustees, has been for sale since the site was built more than 150 years ago.
According to Jesse Denholm of Harrison Agents in Launceston - who is handling the sale - the church has received more than 50 enquiries since it was listed in late April and offers are currently being considered by the owners.
The Gothic-style church is part of a 10,600-square-metre plot that also includes a former rectory, which was converted into a four-bedroom home in the 1960s. The dual-title site is expected to sell for somewhere in the region of $1.4 million.
Given the heritage nature of the church section of the property - which is classified by The National Trust - any potential development would need to continue to meet the heritage requirements, though that doesn't rule out future residential or commercial developments that are able to retain the building's heritage aspects.
Any potential buyer would also be required to maintain the active, 200-plot cemetery at the rear of the church and become approved by the government as cemetery manager.
Back in 2009, the building was drawn into the centre of a development controversy when the City of Launceston council knocked back plans to develop the hall and kitchen addition at the side of the building.
That decision was ultimately overturned by a planning tribunal and put before the council again in 2012.
Besides the addition of the facilities, the church proper has seen little to no development since it was built in 1869, when it replaced the previous church that had been pulled down two years earlier.
The church was designed by well-known Launceston architect Harry Conway who designed several churches and private residences in the 1800s including the The Deloraine Town Hall as well as another nearby church in Perth.
The site was one on a list of 73 properties finalised by the Anglican Church of Tasmania in December of 2018 to be sold to fund its financial commitments under the National Redress Scheme and civil litigation for historic sexual abuse.
In May last year, The Anglican Church of Tasmania adopted a plan to raise an additional $15 million which it estimated would be needed to continue to fund the scheme, but said it was not considering any further church sales outside those already listed in 2018.
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