Following elections at the Annual Meeting, the new PCC met for the first time on Thursday 14 May. As well as welcoming our new members and inducting them into the mysteries of the PCC, the membership of various PCC working parties was reviewed, and we were pleased to note that membership of the electoral roll had passed the 400 mark.
Jim Walters reported his plans for a panel discussion (17 June) entitled: After the Credit Crunch a moral future for capitalism? Diana Finning reported on Big Brew Day (11 July), and reports were received from the pastoral care working party and the social action working party. The latter was setting up a sub- committee to consider what we as a church could do about climate change in the run-up to the World Summit in Copenhagen in December. More of this anon.
But the main business before the meeting was the proposal to authorise the Vicar and churchwardens to sign the contract for the crypt development works. Following the success of the development appeal, the Finance Committee had concluded that we were in a position to spend up to £190,000 on the project. Peter Ginnings reported that implementation of the full project as originally conceived would cost £233,220, so it had been essential to look for savings of up to £45,000. He advised that all the essential work could be carried out within the available resource envelope if certain desirable but costly items were omitted. Double glazing was not going to be good value for money, nor was it cost-effective to extend the church heating system into the crypt area the old heaters would have to be replaced with safer, more efficient, modern electric heaters. The electrical switchgear serving the whole building would need replacing within a few more years, but could cope for now. Having satisfied ourselves that none of these changes would lead to higher costs at a later date, received Peter’s assurances about the arrangements which had been put in place to minimise any risk of price escalation, and heard his views on the choice of contractors, the PCC agreed to authorise the Vicar and Churchwardens to sign the main contract at a price up to £145,000 + VAT, leading to a total cost of £190,000 with associated works and professional fees. All being well, the work should be completed by the end of August. We can all look forward to that.
PCC Meeting 14 May
Handley Stevens