The Very Reverend Anne Mills, Dean of the Holy Trinity Cathedral at Parnell, has advised that the two wooden houses standing next to the Cathedral at 9 St Stephens Avenue and 1A Brighton Road, Parnell will be demolished. Work at the site commences on 23 April 2019.
The Cathedral Trust Board and Holy Trinity Cathedral will create a endowment fund from either the ground lease or outright sale of the land the houses sit on to meet the need for long-term, sustainable funding of maintenance for the Cathedral and its surrounding buildings and grounds.
The buildings were not listed as heritage buildings and the Trust have assessed them as economically unfeasible to refurbish to a commercial standard on-site.
The project to prepare the land for sale may include the removal of some vegetation and trees at the site but none of the 17 protected trees in the Cathedral precinct, including the impressive Dragon Tree (Dracaena draco) believed to have been planted in 1898 at the street frontage of 9 Saint Stephens Avenue, will be affected and management plans are in place for these protected trees.