Geraldton homeless couple would have ‘nowhere else to go’ if Batavia hotel is demolished

A homeless couple who have been sheltering at the abandoned Batavia Motor Inne for months are desperate for support to move into a house of their own before the derelict site is torn down. After falling into continuous disrepair for more than a decade, the notorious eyesore was last year snapped up by property developers Giuseppe Scaffidi — husband of ex-City of Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi — Michael O’Sullivan and Anthony Scaffidi. They have yet to reveal their plans for the site, which continues to provide shelter for Geraldton’s homeless community. Natasha Euphemie travelled to Geraldton three months ago with her partner Craig and dog Tippey after they were attacked on the streets of Perth. Ms Euphemie said the couple had been sleeping rough near Mission Australia, but were told to move on after the property owners put a stop to Geraldton’s homeless community using the site as a makeshift camp. They have been sheltering at the Batavia Motor Inne for two months alongside about seven others who have made the site their permanent home. But Ms Euphemie said it was becoming an increasingly dangerous place to stay, with about 30 to 40 “blow-ins” attracting police attention almost every night. “We’ve had our front door kicked in three times. We’ve had people trying to stand over us while we were trying to sleep. We tell them we just want to be left alone,” she said. “They come and call us c.... because we don’t drink, we choose not to. We had one guy starting abusing us and threatening to slit our throats.” Ms Euphemie is in the process of applying for priority status on the public housing waitlist due to her diabetes, a condition which she says is almost impossible to manage while homeless. “I haven’t had my insulin for two months, the insulin I have got is now off because it has been hot and we don’t have a fridge,” she said. “Anytime I can go into a diabetic coma and then die but no one cares. They would rather give a drug user a house instead of two people who are struggling with their dog.” Her partner Craig said he was tired of constantly watching his back at the site and questioned why boarded-up public housing could not be made immediately available to rough sleepers. “I saw 10 HomesWest homes all boarded up in Spalding. We can fix them up ourselves, I don’t understand why we can’t just move into one of them,” he said. “All I really want is a backyard for my dog, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask.” Despite the security risks, Ms Euphemie said she would have nowhere else to go if the Batavia Motor Inne was not accessible. “I don’t want to be stuck on the street again. At least here we get some privacy from the public and other people who are drinking,” she said. The couple have befriended another of the abandoned hotel’s more permanent squatters, David Armener, and hope to offer him a room when they finally secure housing. City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn — who lives next door to the derelict site — said he has noticed a recent surge in “blow-ins” causing trouble for the local homeless residents. “Two Saturdays ago, there was a fire there. The fire brigade were there and the police, who advised they had visited the site 12 times the night before alone,” he said. “Batavia is acting as an attractant to people coming up from Perth and from out east as a place to stay in Geraldton. There are people there who are genuinely homeless but there are others who are just using it as their base.” Shadow minister for housing Steve Martin said safe housing for those at the Batavia Motor Inne site must be secured before the building is demolished. “You can’t wait for the developers to get in with their plan and put the bulldozer at the gate before you decide what is happening with these people. Someone needs to take responsibility for these people,” he said. “The not-for-profit sector are stretched already, there are no crisis beds in Geraldton. “I would call on the State Government to outline the plan for the residents of what is the Batavia site, and they need to do that well in advance to when the bulldozer gets to the gate.” Regional Alliance West operations manager Chris Gabelish said there was desperate need for crisis accommodation in Geraldton. “There’s been no facilities built that cater for these homeless people,” he said. “We have the Step-Up, Step-Down facility, where people could use emergency accommodation, but the problem is that they need an address to return to in order to access that program.”