Construction starts on Geraldton microbrewery after liquor licence objection rejected

Work has finally started on Geraldton’s highly-anticipated microbrewery, with a last-minute objection to the business overturned last week. Batavia Brewing Company proprietors Dennis and Lynette Healy in November received council approval for the proposal to open a locally-owned microbrewery and reception centre at 60 Fitzgerald Street. The pair had hoped to have doors open and taps flowing by the end of March, but an objection to their application for liquor licensing ground construction to a halt. After a tense wait while the objection was assessed, Mr Healy on Wednesday was informed the application had been approved and they could proceed with refurbishment works. Mr Healy said he and his wife were “exceptionally pleased” with the outcome of what had been a “very stressful” process. “We have been investing a lot of time and money to this project. Had it fallen through at this stage, we would have had to pretty much start again to find a place to put the brewery,” he said. “We got the council approval last year and we were all over the moon about that, but we didn’t expect to get any objections.” Mr Healy said tradesmen were expected to start working on the project this week, but it could be several months before the microbrewery serves its first beer. “We have people coming in to start things, including electrical, plumbing and flooring. Then once we have the flooring in we can start positioning the brewery system in place,” he said. “I don’t know how long it is going to take to get the brewery system up and going. But we’ll be moving as fast as we can and hopefully in the next two or three months we can ramp things up and get it going.” Mr Healy hoped the brewery would become an asset to the Geraldton tourism industry. The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries would not reveal the details of the licensing objection. A handful of public submissions received by the council last year raised concerns about the business causing antisocial behaviour near the neighbouring Geraldton Primary School, parking and traffic congestion around school open and closing times, noise, odour emissions and rubbish generation.