54 Fitzgerald Pty Ltd: Batavia Motor Inne owners fail to show in court, but set to plead guilty to demo breach

The owners of the site of the notorious former Batavia Motor Inne will plead guilty to charges relating to failure to comply with a council demolition order, a Geraldton court has been told. A lawyer representing the City of Greater Geraldton told Geraldton Magistrates Court on Thursday the lawyer representing 54 Fitzgerald Street Pty Ltd had indicated a plea of guilty and they had agreed to adjourn the matter for three to four weeks on the basis a plea would be entered on the next occasion. The city’s lawyer said he expected a plea of guilty would be made at the next appearance. Neither a representative of 54 Fitzgerald Street Pty Ltd nor its lawyer appeared in court. A demolition order was issued by the City of Greater Geraldton in February 2023, which has now expired, requiring all buildings to be demolished. The city launched legal action against 54 Fitzgerald Pty Ltd in February 2024 for failure to comply with that order when one building in the complex was left standing. Deputy mayor Natasha Colliver said the city and the owners of the Batavia Motor Inne would have a meeting next week. “The city will be expressing the desire of the community, which is to remove the rubble from the site,” she said. Most of the buildings — which had become a haven for criminal activity and squatters — was torn down last year, except for the building known as Wing 6, with mounds of rubble also left untouched. In May, the company, co-directed by Joe Scaffidi — Perth property developer and husband of former City of Perth lord mayor Lisa Scaffidi — and two others, confirmed it was seeking approval for a development application to turn Wing 6 into 21 serviced short-stay apartments and was investigating how to remove the rubble. The city of Greater Geraldton council approved the application last month. “In relation to the rubble, a portion has already been removed. However, in relation to the remaining rubble, we are investigating opportunities to recycle this into road base or infill,” Mr Scaffidi said. The court case was adjourned until August 22.