Nyabing Community Church and freehold lots set to be transferred to Shire of Kent by church committee

A Great Southern council is set to take control of a town’s only church with its management committee no longer able to take care of it. Shire of Kent councillors voted unanimously at their June 15 council meeting to assume control of the Nyabing Community Church on Aspendale Street after a request from the group responsible for its operation. In his report to council, Shire chief executive Adam Majid said he first met with two representatives of the Nyabing Community Church committee on March 11. “At the meeting, representatives identified that as a committee, their numbers have decreased to four in number and no services are held in the building,” he said. “This has led to an inability to adequately provide care and maintenance to the building.” Mr Majid suggested to the committee members that they investigate alternatives to the council taking over the church, including selling two adjacent blocks of land and establishing a trust from the proceeds. He has since been told the insurance policy on the building will expire at the end of this financial year due to the venue no longer being used for religious reasons. The church committee is also willing to hand over ownership of the adjacent blocks. After council’s unanimous vote, the transfers of the church and land will be formalised. “Ultimately, the committee is resolute in its position that it is no longer able to provide guardianship of the church building and surrounds,” Mr Majid said. In correspondence to the council, NCCC secretary Marilyn Gray said members were in “unanimous agreement” to transfer the land to the Shire. The church was reroofed in 2015 and repainted externally in 2018. The Shire estimated the cost of insuring the venue would not exceed $400 over the next year. The NCCC forecast ongoing operational costs to be about $1000 a year, with electricity costs expected to be covered by a State Government grant for another 5-6 years. The church, originally known as All Saints Community Church, was completed in 1967 and held services for more than 50 years. Shire president Scott Crosby said the council was yet to decide what to do with the church building. “We just don’t like seeing these things disappearing from our community and we felt we had to step in and make sure it didn’t happen,” he said.