The Burkes Pass Heritage Trust

Postal Address; 41 Kirkwood Ave,
Christchurch,8004.
Phone; 03 348 1531, fax; 03 355 8289,
email; jbatch@ihug.co.nz

Dear Burkes Pass Resident,            

Yes, we have purchased St Patricks Church and secured its future in Burkes Pass.

Thanks  to 120 people, both local and from far and wide who have been generous enough to contribute to our Trust fund and become members of the Trust.  We are also very grateful to the Mid and South Canterbury Community Trust who made a grant of $3,000 for the purchase. There has been a tremendous amount of goodwill expressed toward this project and I am certain that the decision to proceed, while difficult at the time, will lead to an excellent outcome for all.

Heritage Walkway

You may be aware that as part of the proposal to support the church in its new role as a community owned church we have madea proposal to enhance the heritage aspect of our township. One of the possibilities is to create a heritage walkway through the settlement and provide information to visitors encouraging them to stop and also improving safe walking access to those who live nearby. There is much local knowledge about our settlement that is at present scattered and not well documented. It well  may be of interest to many and is worthy of recording for posterity. If you have any photos or stories relating to any stage in Burkes Pass history, particularly of ‘human interest’ or amusing tales, Liz Angelo-Roxborough is making a collection.

We need to consult with everyone in this community.

 As a result of this project, we, as a community, have an opportunity to collect ideas and decide what changes, if any, we wish to make to our township and the area in general eg to landscaping etc. It is invisaged  that the Trust will commission a planner to co-ordinate consultation with all residents and feed in ideas, identify problems and provide some possible solutions.  To facilitate this a grant has been approved from the Mackenzie District Council to assess the funding necessary and an outline of how this might be progressed. A meeting will be held to guage  initial response and input will be invited from all people living in the wider Burkes Pass area. Notification will be given well in advance and I hope as many of you as possible will give it some thought.

A church service is planned to celebrate 129 years of Christian worship and stewardship by the Mackenzie Co-operating Parish and its predecessors.

This is being held on Sunday 29th April at 2 pm and all are very welcome. It seems fitting to give thanks and remember the sentiments and efforts of the original congregation at this stage in the life of this church. We hope that this church will have many more services and gatherings while in different ownership.

Afterwards you are all invited to afternoon tea at Alma Cottage.

I would welcome any feedback and any thoughts or concerns about the Trust and its activities

Cheers,

Jane Batchelor
Chairperson