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5 Year Plan Land Appeal |
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28th April 2004.
To: The Hebron School family – worldwide From: The Principal, Hebron School, Ooty. Re: The School’s ‘Five Year Plan (2004 – 8)’
Dear All,
In the past month we have had the official launch of the Alumni Association in London, an excellent Parents’ Week and a Council Meeting at Hebron. Amongst much else we have been considering the proposed ‘Five Year Plan’ for the school. This aims to maintain the traditional strengths and ethos of Hebron whilst making provision for some improvements to our infrastructure and facilities.
As many of you will be aware, we are severely restricted on the Lushington Campus when it comes to any building work. We have been trying for the past 6 years to gain planning permission for the Auditorium, but so far without success. Last year’s purchase of the Ebenezer property has been a great boon for additional staff housing and dormitory space but several significant needs remain:
In order to realise some of these projects we are having to consider abandoning the Centenary Auditorium project (for lack of planning permission). We have started to consider schemes to improve the existing Assembly Hall (for drama) and to utilise the Cypress Court building (currently the Std. 10 / 11 boys’ Dorms) for music and technology. In order to facilitate this and our other projects we have investigated the further purchase of land in the Glenrock valley.
Land for development and amenity use is scare in Ooty but in the past few months we have been offered four pieces, some with buildings, in our immediate vicinity. This land is unlikely to be available for long and the Council has authorised me to seek the support of the Hebron family. I have been given until June 2004 (just over 2 months) to ‘lay a fleece before the Lord’ during which to elicit promises of financial support. At the mid-June Council Meeting a decision will be taken whether or not to proceed.
Can I ask you to pray and to seek God’s will for these potential projects? In the middle of this month’s Council Meeting we received an email pledging us £10,000 for land purchase. This was a tremendous encouragement – but we would need more pledges to proceed! Offers of help can come directly to the Principal at School or via the Sheiling Trust in the U.K. or Dodabetta Trust in New Zealand or S.O.S. in the U.S.A. Hebron Link personnel worldwide (see website) would also be interested to hear from you.
The four pieces of available land are as follows (in order of priority): [N.B. 1 acre = 100 cents] 1. Field next to Ebenezer Dorm which stretches down to the stream:
2. Terraced land across from Glenrock Dorm and up the springlands valley:
3. Field which runs end on to the Sports’ hall:
4. Clifton Lodge and bungalows just outside Botanical Garden gates – formerly girls’ hostels in Breeks’ days:
(Please note that in all cases, except for number 4, we would need to seek planning permission for buildings following the land purchase. Number 2, however, comes within a residential zone and so permission should be straight forward!)
Thank you for taking time to consider all this prayerfully. As well as any pledge of support which you feel able to make, I would be interested in your comments and suggestions. One approach would be to launch a fund raising campaign but at present Council is laying out a ‘fleece’. Please support us in any way you can and, in particular, with your prayers. Thank you.
Every blessing,
Yours sincerely,
Alastair Reid Principal. |