City takes steps towards Batavia Park

An ambitious project by the Batavia Coast Maritime Heritage Association to remodel Batavia Park in celebration of the Geraldton shore’s history of shipwrecks has received conditional approval from the City Council.

The first stage of this plan was given approval in December last year, with The Mariner’s Astrolabe being refurbished and moved into the park to demonstrate how early Dutch navigators would have found their way around the Abrolhos Islands.

The association has also put forward an 11-stage plan to continue additions to the park, including a rotating globe which shows early navigators’ paths around the world (set to be placed later this year), the construction of a replica fort around the statue of Wiebbe Hayes, a memorial to those who lost their lives in the Batavia'''' wreck, and a series of plaques and public artworks that will illustrate the history of shipwrecks along the Batavia Coast.

This plan has now been given a general thumbs-up by the City of Greater Geraldton, though each stage will still have to be given final approval when the time comes to begin construction.

Association chairman Howard Gray said they wanted to be able to portray not just the Batavia wreck, but the wider maritime history of the region in a public display.

“We want to try and get some perspective of time, so the idea for that one is to put an interpretive pathway through the centre here. It will have a timeline with special notes for particular events,” he said.

Dr Gray said the project wasn’t about getting it done very quickly with a lot of money, but rather using the opportunity to engage the community in the building of the park, rolling each stage out with input and assistance from the public.

Dr Gray also highlighted that the new structures would be able to cover up the electricity substation and sewerage pipe area next to the park, which was an eyesore in the middle of town.

“The idea is to surround that with scrolled panels around on both sides,” he said.

“One will have the Batavia story, told through old wood-cuts — and the detail on them is just phenomenal,” he said.

“Around the other side we’ll put the other Batavia Coast wrecks, which most people don’t know about.

“There’s the Zeewijk, the Ocean Queen, the Ben Ledi, the Hadda, the Mayhill, the Windsor, the Stanford — there’s another 10 or 20 which are in themselves significant wrecks.”