Plans for a major redevelopment of the Cooyong Street area have been
thrown into doubt after the Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and
Goulburn decided against selling church properties on the site in
Braddon.The ACT government is seeking an amendment to the Territory Plan to allow the eventual redevelopment of the area, which includes the Allawah, Bega and Currong public housing units.
The project could have also involved the demolition of St Patrick's Church, the Favier House church office block and an old convent.
Some St Patrick's parishioners and supporters opposed the plan and the church was granted heritage status.
Helen Delahunty, financial administrator of the Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn, said on Tuesday that the archdiocese had now decided to retain the Braddon properties for the foreseeable future.
Ms Delahunty confirmed the decision had been motivated in part by the amount of money the government had offered for the site.
''There's been a number of conversations and there's been an offer of some money which we rejected,'' Ms Delahunty said.
''At the moment it's business as usual. We're here for the foreseeable future.
''We don't want the church heritage-listed but we're not going to knock it down, we're not going to sell, because financially it's not worth it.''
The revelation that the church land will not be sold comes after Housing Minister Shane Rattenbury said this week that he would not support the construction of a 15-storey high building as part of the Cooyong Street development.
Ms Delahunty said the church's decision did not necessarily spell the end of a proposal for a redevelopment of church land in the Manuka cathedral precinct.
The Manuka plan was championed by the former archbishop, Mark Coleridge.
Ms Delahunty said it may be possible for the Manuka project to go ahead without funds generated from the sale of the Manuka site.
''We've got the [development application] in, we've got plans, we've getting prices. We're working towards giving a business case to the new archbishop,'' she said.
Ms Delahunty said it was possible that the church land in Braddon would never be sold.
''At the moment we're all here, we've got people working here every day, we've got parishioners in the church every day and we're happy,'' she said.
The proposed sale of the Braddon land caused disquiet in sections of the Catholic community and questions were raised about whether the archdiocese had the authority to sell it.
The Cooyong Street redevelopment would have included a new Catholic church or worship centre.
The Catholic Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn has been without an archbishop since Archbishop Coleridge moved to Brisbane in May last year.
The archdiocese is under the temporary administration of Monsignor John Woods.