A 1928 Trust deed is at the centre of legal action over ownership of the Hallyburton Johnstone Sports Club<\/p>\n
Anglican leader Fa\u2019Afuhia Fia moved a motion today affirming that the Anglican mission included \u201creconciliation, pastoral care, service to the community, mercy, justice, and the protection of relationships of trust\u201d.<\/p>\n
The motion expressed hope that the ATWC and Hallyburton Johnstone Sports Club would continue looking for a way to resolve their dispute outside the courts.<\/p>\n
It asked for the resolution to be passed on to the trust as a non-binding expression of the Synod\u2019s \u201cpastoral interest in and commitment to reconciliation\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Hallyburton Johnstone Sports Club has occupied the Dignan St land in Point Chevalier for almost a century. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n
The motion did not take a position on the merits of the High Court proceedings or direct the trust to end its legal action.<\/p>\n
Point Chevalier Bowls Club president Simon Munro said he left Friday\u2019s Synod meeting \u201cslightly deflated\u201d.<\/p>\n
While the outcome fell short of what the club had hoped for, Munro said it was significant the motion was debated and passed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just good to actually have our motion heard,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Munro said supporters had wanted a stronger outcome but were pleased the issue had been put before the wider church rather than deferred until next year.<\/p>\n
Tim Boyle with his daughter Maisy Boyle, 8, supporting the Point Chevalier Bowling Club in February. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n
Munro said an ATWC trustee spoke against the original motion and defended the trust\u2019s need to carry out its duties.<\/p>\n
He said there had also been attempts not to table the issue until next year, making him relieved a motion was passed and the dispute remained on the Synod\u2019s agenda.<\/p>\n
He said the club would continue pushing for negotiations with the Anglican trust outside the High Court process.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just need to see if they want to get back in touch and start that kind of process again.\u201d<\/p>\n
He argued a court victory for the trust would not necessarily end the dispute, particularly if there were subsequent attempts to change the use of the land.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe community will be up against them, so I think they\u2019ll just encounter even more difficulties, which won\u2019t be good for them and it won\u2019t be good for the church either.\u201d<\/p>\n
The club is still waiting for the High Court to set a hearing date.<\/p>\n
Munro said indications were that there were significant delays and he would be surprised if the case was heard this year. The club expected it could instead be heard in the first half of next year.<\/p>\n
He said the uncertainty and mounting legal costs were difficult for a small community sports club.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve done some good fundraising, but at the end of the day, it\u2019s still that David versus Goliath battle.\u201d<\/p>\n
Munro said the trust had \u201cdeep pockets\u201d and could afford lawyers, while the club had to continually find money for its case.<\/p>\n
The ATWC was approached for comment on Friday\u2019s Synod meeting.<\/p>\n
In an earlier statement about the court action, ATWC public relations spokeswoman Adelle Keely told the Herald the trust was seeking legal clarification over ownership of the Point Chevalier land.<\/p>\n
She said extensive engagement had made it clear that a legal process was the only way to provide certainty for all parties.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand this is a matter people feel strongly about. Our intention is simply to resolve the issue responsibly and allow the appropriate legal processes to determine the next steps. Our day-to-day focus remains on supporting the families who rely on us,\u201d Keely said.<\/p>\n
At the time, Keely said ATWC would await the outcome of the proceeding before commenting further.<\/p>\n
Rachel Maher is the education correspondent for the New Zealand Herald. She also covers other topics such as Auckland issues, crime and local government. She started at the Herald as a breaking news journalist in 2022, before joining the Auckland team this year. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The site supports about 1200 bowls, croquet and tennis members, as well as community activities including a garden…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":590268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[9092,15408,534,185117,51,32319,5837,15364,234106,18836,6284,25819,13731,9881,18791,14724,132152,1345,809,19720,111,139,69,53657,423,181094,312,213,290688,301,9438,167346,102],"class_list":["post-590267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-against","tag-almost","tag-amid","tag-anglican","tag-auckland","tag-backs","tag-battle","tag-century","tag-chevalier","tag-club","tag-david","tag-deep","tag-dispute","tag-facing","tag-fighting","tag-further","tag-goliath","tag-home","tag-keep","tag-land","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pockets","tag-point","tag-pt","tag-says","tag-sports","tag-synod","tag-talks","tag-trust","tag-versus","tag-with"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=590267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/590267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/590268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=590267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=590267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=590267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}