Following numerous reports by Sunbury Life in 2023 on the abandoned Uniting Church in Barkly St, a structural engineers has been called in to survey the vacant building by its leaseholders.
The church, built in 1879, was leased by Uniting Church to the Department for Families Fairness and Housing (DFFH) in 1976 on the understanding it would be used for the good of the wider community.
The state of the building became so bad last year that Hume Council erected a security fence around it in November 2023 to keep people out.
At the time, a council spokesperson said: “An inspection of the site by a council building inspector resulted in the issue of an emergency order by council’s deputy municipal building surveyor, which among other things, required the owner to erect barriers or fencing to restrict access to the site.”
The latest news from the DFHH – which is responsible for the building under a lease agreement with Uniting Church – says it has engaged a structural engineer to assess the building’s structure.
“They are in the process of providing a report on the building’s condition and any remediation works required,” says a spokesperson for DFFH.
“The building is not at risk of collapse and no immediate works are required to make the building safe.”
Homes Victoria currently manages six public housing homes at the Barkly St site under a lease with Uniting Church.
Below are photos of the inside of the church taken by Mark Belcher in 2019.
