"For the love of money is the root of all evil"
Timothy 6:10, King James Bible

Some bad news for the supporters of the Mt Victoria icon known as Crossways. Local residents, organized under the umbrella of a charitable entity called the Crossways Community Trust have worked for over a year to save the community centre. Despite their best efforts, Prebyterian church St Andrews on the Terrace, have now sold the building to a property developer, claiming they need the cash for earthquake strengthening of their church. The buyer, Sheryl Gulliver, intends to renovate the building and sell it as a private home. It is a tragic irony that this social space that has hosted a number of meetings critical of privatization, and neoliberalism in general, has now itself been privatized.

At a public meeting on Thusday 21 August, a motion was passed to rename the trust to 'New Crossways Community Trust' and alter its purpose to include seeking to lease another building to house the evicted groups. There are around 40 community groups who regulary use the Crossways space for meetings and activities, including the Mt Victoria Residents Association. One of the hardest hit victims of the church's action is the parent-run community creche which has been operated out of Crossways for 25 years. Creche organizers explained that Mt Victoria has a dearth of buildings with outdoor areas, and since Ministry of Education regulations insist on a minimum outdoor space for any childcare facility, the creche has been hard-pressed to find a new home.

The only viable long-term option seems to be the disused Wellington Women's Bowling Club building known as 'Bandoliers'. Unfortunately it's on the edge of the green belt, and bound by a labyrinth of planning restrictions, and opposition from the open space lovers Friends of the Town Belt, who would prefer to see the building demolished. With the eviction deadline of October 9 looming, the creche supporters were pushing hard for the meeting to support them, either by insisting the New Crossways Community Trust look for a space with suitable outdoor space to allow the creche to continue operating, or by taking a supportive position on the creche group's proposal to use Bandoliers. However, the trustees claim to have their hands tied, in the first instance by the lack of suitable buildings, and in the second by the division within the Mt Vic community over the future of the Bandoliers building.

A possible compromise is the somewhat "dilapidated" Samoan Church hall, which has an open courtyard, previously used for growing taro. Talks between the creche and the Ministry of Education have produced a glimmer of hope that this may be allowable as a temporary home for the creche, while a more suitable long term solution is sought. This is one of three possible sites for 'New Crossways' which were tabled at the meeting. The other two proposals involved the lease of an office space above a tile shop, and a share arrangement with an after-care facility for people with intellectual disabilites and mental illness. Neither of these options includes outside space that would allow the creche to be part of the New Crossways.

To me, the situation is akin to the council suddenly deciding to sell the Aro Hall to earthquake strengthen the council offices, or the Lebanese Society deciding to sell 128 Abel Smith St. In each of these cases, one would hope that the user community be offered the first right of purchase, given the necessary time to fundraise, and perhaps given a slight discount if necessary for the sake of the community good. One would hope that the social objectives of these collective entities would be weighed in during decision-making, as well as purely financial matters.

As stated on their website, the St Andrews mission is to "create a lively, open Christian faith community, to act for a just and peaceful world, and to be catalysts for discovery, compassion and celebration in the capital." The sale of Crossways may be seen as fulfilling the first part of this, since strengthening St Andrews would ensure a space for that community, but to do so by crucifying the wellbeing of the Mt Victoria community is neither in the interests of a just world, nor is it much of an example of discovery or celebration, let alone compassion. The wealth of all christian churches in Aotearoa, especially their property wealth, is derived indirectly, and sometimes directly, from their role in the subjugation and dispossession of the tangata whenua. One would hope that with this in mind, the church would be mindful of its social justice debts while making decisions about its property assets.

However, the property barons who control the estate of St Andrews on the Terrace, insisted they would not sell the Crossways building at any less than its inflated market valuation. It seems they would rather sell the building to be turned into a private stately home than donate a fraction of their potential profit to allow the community to keep their only dedicated social centre. This seems especially absurd when the church accepted a $1.3 million purchase price from the developer, little more than the $1.2 million offered by the Crossways Community Trust in June, especially once real estate and marketing costs are chopped off.

This pursuit of the highest dollar value above all other values is the thinking of bankers, not followers of Christ, who righteous indignation at the commercial invasion of space set aside for the sacred and the social is recorded in Matthew 21 (verse 13 is my favourite). Somebody needs to go drive the money-changers out of the temple.