Batavia Motor Inne: Long and tainted history of Geraldton eyesore and crime hotspot

Claiming a prized position in one of Geraldton’s oldest streets in the city’s west end — opposite a primary school, next to a newly opened brewery and nestled among many homes — the Batavia Motor Inne used to be a popular watering hole and hotel, but after more than a decade of neglect it’s transformed into a community hellhole. It’s a hotbed of crime and anti-social behaviour and a magnet for the city’s homeless and squatters, causing untold problems for police, the local councils and people who live in the vicinity. Locals have described being too scared to walk outside their homes, while others wonder if they will ever see the day it is demolished. This week during a District Court trial, it emerged the Batavia Motor Inne on Fitzgerald Street was also the scene of a shocking two-day rape ordeal in which a 14-year-old was repeatedly sexually attacked by Eastern States predator James Robert Sbresni who had flown to WA mid-last year following months of grooming the girl on Snapchat. Police rescued the girl from the Batavia Motor Inne, with Srbensi being convicted of multiple rapes. Overlooking the Indian Ocean, the Batavia Motor Inne once had a Scottish bar, honeymoon suite, 76 rooms, a piano bar, lush garden and hosted many weddings and functions. The Inne offered affordable accommodation in the early 2000s — single beds went for $70 while it was $75 for a double bed or twin share. Now the site is ridden with layer-on-layer of graffiti, broken windows, piles of rubbish and hazards everywhere you look. The motel was bought for an undisclosed price by Singaporean syndicate Batavia Village, after liquidators for the former owners, Mystic, offered it for sale when they went into receivership in 2007. The Inne became derelict around that period due to the 2008-09 financial crisis and has remained vacant ever since, despite multiple changes in ownership. There were talks of a $3 million refurbishment in 2010 that never eventuated. A Batavia Village spokesperson told reporters the company was keen to begin work on the hotel to bring it up to four-star standard, and it would be renamed Batavia City Hotel. The City of Greater Geraldton has been trying to see the site demolished for at least the past eight years, issuing demolition notices in 2014 and 2019, which have never eventuated. With private ownership, the council’s hands have been tied. Demolition, fencing, clearing the site are the responsibilities of the owners. Batavia Village listed the property for sale in June 2021 to avoid the responsibility of securing or clearing the site, and it was purchased for $572,000 three months later by another company 54 Fitzgerald Pty Ltd — headed by property developer Giuseppe “Joe” Scaffidi the husband of ex-City of Perth Lord Mayor Lisa Scaffidi — and his co-directors Anthony Scaffidi and Michael O’Sullivan. In June 2020, a homeless 31-year-old man squatting at the Inne pleaded guilty to whacking a person repeatedly with a metal pole while he was sleeping on the ground. He was sentenced to seven months in jail. Then in June this year, a 28-year-old woman allegedly stabbed her partner multiple times in the back with a shard from a broken plate after a drunken argument and will face trial next month. In August 2021, police arrested a 26-year-old for lighting two fires in dried grass with one “rapidly engulfing” a palm tree and threatening power lines. Last month, three minor fires broke out inside the complex within less than a fortnight, raising further alarm. The case of the girl preyed upon by James Sbresni is likely to send shivers down the spines of locals, who already grimace every time they walk or drive past the derelict site. Calls have also been mounting for the State Government to provide more public housing to safely house the people using the Batavia who are genuinely homeless. Regional Alliance West operations manager Chris Gabelish last month told the parliamentary inquiry into homelessness that more than 40 people used the Batavia Motor Inne at any one time. He also revealed his team of community welfare workers had handed out whistles upon request to females at the site to use in case of a sexual or physical attack. With all signs pointing to a stalemate, the current owners issued a statement recently, telling the Geraldton Guardian they were moving closer to demolition and were trying to find another contractor, after one pulled out. “Once a contractor has been appointed and mobilised, temporary fencing will be installed. At this time we will require the City of Greater Geraldton to assist in bringing the local agencies together in clearing the buildings,” the owners said. A day promised, but one many don’t believe will happen until they see the ruins crumble with their own eyes.