Church closed and placed on the market

The church itself closed in March of 2021 with the decision to sell the property being made in April, 2023.

Many residents in the shire have expressed concerns about what will happen to their ancestors' remains that are currently interred in the church's columbarium, a wall of a building that has been designated for the interment of ashes of people who have passed away and been cremated.

General manager of the Presbyterian church of Australia, Jeoffrey Falls said that although it is an unusual property to sell due to the columbarium, the government has strict guidelines as to what should happen in a situation like this.

"The government itself has quite strict guidelines now in terms of managing columbariums. It is unusual that our church has a columbarium in it and in the sale agreement it is quite clear that the purchaser of this property, even if they converted it into a house, has to take over the columbarium and to operate it in accordance with the act," Mr Falls said.

This involves maintaining the columbaria, allowing access to the general public and complying with the obligations of people with loved ones interned there.

Despite this, Mr Falls said that a number of residents have already expressed concerns regarding this to which the church has expressed understanding and helped a number of remains to be taken off the property.

"We have explained to them that the purchaser will be obligated to manage the remains exactly as we have done for many years," he said.

"We're aware that some family members have already approached us and have decided to remove the ashes from the columbaria. We're very happy to work with them and to go out of our way to assist them in moving their loved ones ashes to a place of rest.

"We were very happy to work with some, and indeed a number of people who have approached us who have expressed hurt, have really worked very well with us and we've worked well with them to be able to arrange the transfer."