Church Knockdown Prompts Heritage Concerns

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE

There are concerns over the proposed demolition of a nearly 80-year old church at Mayfield, where many people have celebrated their weddings and christenings.

The Catholic Diocese of Maitland Newcastle says Saint Columban's on Church Street is deteriorating, with concrete cancer in its footings.

The church is located near St Columban's Primary School and is listed as a heritage site in the Newcastle Local Environment Plan.

Secretary of the Hunter chapter of the National Trust, Ann Hardy says the diocese shouldn't rush into demolition.

"I think one of the other options is remediation," she says, "we could look at what remediation recommendations have been made and whether they've been costed to see whether the church is salvageable.

"We're concerned because it's quite a drastic measure...it's worth preserving. It was built around the time of World War Two, built with a lot of support from the local parish and it's got a lot of features internally," Ms Hardy explains, "the design is very inter-war Art Deco and unique."

The National Trust will make a presentation at a City of Newcastle meeting tonight at City Hall from 6pm, which the community is invited to attend and share their opinions.

St Columban's. 

Catholic church criticised for $38 million in property spending

BY MARISSA ALEXIOU

The Catholic Church has come under scrutiny for its recent spending on properties across the Hunter.

$38 million dollars has been spent in the last five years, with the church planning to develop affordable housing, a childcare centre, a high-school and other community facilities.

Analysis of Australian Property Monitors data has shown the church purchasing properties in Newcastle West, Gillieston Heights, Charlestown, Cessnock and Mount Hutton.

The criticism for the spending follows the finding the church misled the Royal Commission into Child Sex Abuse by undervaluing its property holdings across New South Wales and Victoria.

The church has been criticised for its lack of transparency regarding its wealth, claiming it would have to cut social programs to fund compensation payouts for sexual abuse survivors.

Greens MP David Shoebridge said $38 million dollars within a five year period is a significant expansion across the region.

"It comes at a time when the Diocese is saying it doesn't have the funds and it may not have the funds in the future to fairly compensate the survivors and children who they so seriously failed," he said.

David Shoebridge additionally criticised the church's government funding and lack of disclosure on where state and federal money was being spent.

"If any organisation is putting their hand up for that sort of public money and doing it on a tax-free basis, then they have an obligation to be much more transparent," he said.

David Shoebridge said it is unlikely the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese is the only Catholic diocese rapidly expanding.

"We've seen the church say what it normally does, that the public doesn't have the full information and that there is further financial transactions the public, state and federal government are unaware of and that comes back to the basic issue of transparency," he said.

2NURFM News contacted the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese for comment. They did not wish to comment any further than statements given to the Newcastle Herald.

"If the church is really going to convince the people of the Hunter it doesn't have the money to pay the survivors of child sexual abuse, then it needs to be 100% transparent," David Shoebridge said.

Catholic teachers call for fairer dispute resolution

BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE

Teachers and support staff from 43 Catholic schools in the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese have signed a petition calling for the right to have disputes with employers heard by the Fair Work Commission.

Representatives from the Independent Education Union went to the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese head office yesterday to hand over the document, which was backed by 2000 union members.

Under current arrangements, Catholic school teachers are not afforded the same rights as those in the public sector, with Catholic employers fighting for veto powers over disputes heard in the NSW Fair Work Commission.

Organiser of the NSW Independent Education Union, Therese Fitzgibbon, says the Union will not settle an enterprise agreement on behalf of Catholic teachers until the agreement protects the teachers' right to arbitration.

She says fair arbitration is necessary for settling a whole host of workplace disputes between teachers and their employers.

"It could affect our workload agreements, which may relate to class sizes or face-to-face teaching," Ms Fitzgibbon says, "We have agreements in place but sometimes there are disagreements relating to how clauses are interpreted.

"What we have to do is make sure there's the capacity for an independent person to interpret those clauses."

The Union is hoping to resolve the issue quickly, as teachers prepare to strike in term four if they cannot reach an agreement with the CSO.