Female Arrested – Stealing of a Motor Vehicle and Traffic Offences

At about 2:00am, Monday 12th September 2016, a white Ford utility was stolen from a Beachlands premises.  Police located the stolen vehicle within the hour in the Beachlands area.

A 36 year old female was allegedly found in possession of the vehicle and subsequently charged with Steal Motor Vehicle, Exceed 0.08 and No Authority to Drive – Suspended.

Police wish to praise the numerous members of the public who reported suspicious activity in the Beachlands area prior to the woman being apprehended.  Their timely reports greatly assisted Police efforts which led to her arrest.

The female was refused bail and will attend Geraldton Magistrates Court at a later date. 

Positive feedback on Gero drivers from a visitor

I had a recent trip to Gero and whilst working as a relief Traffic Warden, I found the need to commend Gero drives for their consideration and courtesy on the roads. I am pleasantly surprised at the habit I noted of some driving SUVs and larger vehicles who actually stop slightly back from a road junction to let the smaller vehicles SEE AROUND THEM! AWESOME! Everyone who drives a car knows how frustrating it is trying to see around these larger vehicles...much safer too! Oh, and the parking bays at most shops are larger too! Thumbs up Gero :D

- Di Neil

Petition created to protest mining at Oakabella

An online petition at change.org has been set up protesting a proposed quarry at Oakabella, which is between Geraldton and Northampton. 

Tonya Constantine, who set up the petition, stated that:

Oakabella is a part of the Moresby Range and the Local Planning Strategy states "Developments not in keeping with the landscape qualities such as quarries and rural industry should be located outside the Moresby Range if possible"

The quarry proposal is clearly contrary to the Councils (sic) (Shire of Northampton) own Local Planning Strategy.

Quarrying the rock at Oakabella has long been of interest. 108 years ago, the newspaper "The Geraldton Express" ran an article (link) about the Mayor and Town Clerk journeying to Oakabella to find a suitable place to establish a quarry. 

Click here to visit the petition.

Mayor says City has bright future for big events

Geraldton will be a backdrop for many more big events just like the Toyota Australian SUP Titles held in Geraldton. Photo: Surfing WA

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn says the City is dedicated to bringing high profile events to Geraldton through dedicated support and sponsorship.

In the aftermath of the Toyota Australian SUP Titles held in Geraldton, Mayor Van Styn said this was just the beginning of larger scale events coming to the region.

Hundreds of competitors from all across Australia made their way to Geraldton to compete across a number of SUP categories with the competition made possible by a $20,000 grant from the City.

Mayor Van Styn reiterated the fact that this sponsorship was part of the City’s broader strategy to attract large scale events to the Midwest.

“We were absolutely stoked to host the SUP titles for the second year in a row and Geraldton is the perfect location,” he said.

“This is just another example of a big event that we have sponsored and we will be supporting many more major events in the future so we can see more high profile events here in the Midwest whether it is sport, music or other forms of entertainment.

“We want to be a destination of choice for events and we are dedicated to sponsoring events that we know our community will enjoy.”

In the last year alone the City has seen the likes of Cold Chisel, triple j’s One Night Stand event and the Perth Wildcats will head to Geraldton next week for two pre-season games.

“We are really starting to put Geraldton on the map as a destination for high profile events,” Mayor Van Styn said.

“The big events we have secured in the past have been so successful and we can see the positive flow on effects it is having on our tourism and economy.

“Next we will look at the possibility of an AFL pre-season match here in Geraldton.

“Sport is such a big part of our community and that is why we want to support events such as the Toyota Australian SUP Titles and we will look to support other future events,” Mayor Van Styn added.

Surfing WA Events Manager Justin Makes said he couldn’t be happier with how the 2016 Australian SUP Titles wrapped up.

"Geraldton has proven to be the perfect location for both SUP racing and surfing,” he said.

“We had amazing weather and waves over the four-day event window and Australia's best SUP competitors have revelled off the Batavia Coastline.

“This was arguably the best Australian SUP Titles ever and we're thrilled with the outcome."

Footpath works on North West Coastal Highway

The City of Greater Geraldton wishes to advise it will be renewing the footpath on the Northwest Coastal Highway between Marsden and Wittenoom Streets with concreting works scheduled to commence on Monday 12 September 2016 for a period of approximately six days.

The anticipated hours of work will be between from 6am to 6pm and include removing the slab path and replacing it with a user friendly concrete path.

These works are part of $1,041,084 allocated in the 2016/17 Budget for the renewal of footpaths which will see approximately 1.68km of the footpath network replaced.

Members of the community are requested to exercise caution and obey all warning signs and directions from authorised City personnel and contractors.

The City apologises for any inconvenience these works may cause.

If you have any queries please contact Moneer Fates, Project Manager on 08 9956 6600 or email council@cgg.wa.gov.au.

7 things you should know if you plan on moving to Geraldton

So you've decided to move to Geraldton. Great. We're happy to have you. 

Here's a few tips that we hope will help you settle in. 

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This block is over 2000m2

700m2 is not a large block

Yeah, we heard in Perth that a large block is 400 m2, that's madness. Anything under 700m2 is tiny. No one blinks at 2000 m2 blocks, which are about half the price of a Perth block. We need somewhere for the shed, the dog, the trampoline, and the veggie patch. So if you notice that all the blocks here are massive, they're actually not. You're just used to living in a cubicle.

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Everything is only 8 minutes away

With a few exceptions, you can get anywhere in 8 minutes. That means we all arrive at events within 30 seconds of each other. So if you get somewhere 5 minutes early, don't be surprised if you're the only one there. 

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Our tap water tastes like the Dead Sea

Get a reverse osmosis water filter or buy bottled water. Or better still, a rain water tank. But don't drink the tap water. 

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No one is impressed with your new whatever

Got a new BMW? Fancy hair cut? Expensive suit? No one cares. Geraldton people are all pretty down to earth. It's hard to tell millionaires and tradies apart tbh. We care more that you're a decent bloke or woman; we don't choose our friends based on their net worth. 

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Yeah we already know Gero's a great place to live

It shocks a lot of Perthies when they spend some time here, then realise their perception of Geraldton was completely wrong. You can point it out to us if you really need to. But we already know how great Gero is to call home. That's why we're here!

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via GIPHY

Yes, the weather really is that much better than Perth

Only 4 hours north of Perth, but the extra few degrees makes a big difference in winter, and summers are definitely a time of consistent beach/pool action. And we're not quite as far north as the insane troppo weather. Take up a water sport and you won't regret it. Preferably one that benefits from windy conditions, like Kite Boarding. 

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We have much faster internet than most of Perth

A bunch of scientists convinced a bunch of bureaucrats to spend billions of dollars to build a massive radio telescope array inland from Geraldton (SKA) so we can find aliens. Somehow that translated into much of Geraldton getting fibre to the premises NBN before most of Perth. On top of that we have a local ISP called Node 1 who built their own wireless network that gets NBN-like speeds. We had this even before the NBN rolled out. 

So yeah, Perth may be a bit of a technological backwater. But you can expect to get decent internet speeds throughout most of Geraldton. 

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If you need any actual advice on moving to or living in Geraldton, click here to check out our "Im new to Geraldton" section. 

Opening of Abraham Street bridge marks end of Karloo Wandina Project

Member for Agriculture the Hon. Paul Brown MLC, City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn and Federal Member for Durack Melissa Price MP cut the ribbon - officially opening the Abraham Street bridge.

The official opening of the Abraham Street bridge and roundabout at the intersection of Abraham Street and Utakarra Road marks the completion of the Karloo Wandina project which began with the construction of Verita Road in July 2013.

The staged development of the Karloo Wandina Project over the last three years has been one of the City’s largest Capital Works projects to date totalling more than $25 million.

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said many local contractors had directly benefitted from the project.

“The 65m long bridge over the Southern Transport Corridor that connects Verita Road with Abraham Street has created an important link between the northern and southern suburbs,” he said.

“The project has injected more than $15 million into the local economy by employing more than 20 local contractors who provided products or services during the construction of the project.”

The project has also resulted in improved community safety and convenience.

“Before the bridge opened there were more than 1600 traffic movements a day on Verita Road and we expect this number will increase as motorists take advantage of the new linkage the bridge provides,” Mayor Van Styn said.

“To ensure the expected increase in traffic keeps flowing whilst maintaining community safety the T-intersection at Abraham Street and Utakarra Road was changed to a roundabout.

“This project has been three years in the making and is already changing the way people move throughout our City.”

Construction of the $9.8 million Abraham Street bridge and roundabout was jointly funded with Royalties for Regions contributing $5,970,000, the Australian Government Building Better Regional Cities Program $1,030,000 and the City $2,820,000.

City seeks feedback on Mountain Bike Master Plan

With mountain bike riding along the Chapman River more popular than ever before the City has developed a master plan for trail riding that includes the protection of the environment. 

The Chapman River Regional Park Mountain Bike Trails Plan identifies opportunities within the Park to provide high quality mountain biking experiences for residents and visitors whilst protecting the unique biodiversity of the area through effective trail management and informational signage. 

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said almost one fifth of Western Australians own mountain bikes and are looking for places to ride them. 

“Almost 120,000 mountain bikes are purchased every year in WA which means about 19 per cent of WA residents own mountain bikes,” he said. 

“These cyclists are actively seeking places to ride their bikes in ever increasing numbers with some trails in the south west Kalamunda Circuit in being ridden more than 50,000 times in 12 months.” 

With demand for mountain biking experiences exceeding supply, the development of trails in the Chapman River Regional Park would result in economic benefits for the local community. 

“Once the Mountain Bike Trail Plan has been adopted by Council and the trails in the plan are formalised, Geraldton would be able to attract visitors interested in undertaking this type of informal recreation activity,” said Mayor Van Styn. 

“The City would also play an important role in assisting WA in becoming a world class mountain bike destination, effectively diversifying the state’s tourism industry whilst securing meaningful economic and social outcomes for our local community.” 

The Chapman River Regional Park Mountain Bike Trails Plan is open for public comment till Wednesday 28 September 2016.  Members of the community are invited to make written submissions regarding the draft plan by visiting the City’s consultations page on the website at www.cgg.wa.gov.au.

Temporary closure of Abraham Street

The City of Greater Geraldton wishes to advise of the temporary closure of Abraham Street between Peter Way and Verita Road on Thursday 8 September 2016 from 9.30am to 11am.

Members of the community are requested to follow all detour signs and directions from authorised City personnel and contractors.

The City apologises for any inconvenience the temporary closure may cause.

If you have any queries please contact Jacinta Altham on 08 9956 6600 or email council@cgg.wa.gov.au.

This intersection is deadly

To be clear, if drivers never made mistakes there'd be no accidents here.  

But they don't. Humans make mistakes. Our brains make our bodies do dumb things. Whatever. There's no point trying to make 10,000 drivers magically get better at driving. This intersection needs fixing.

I'm talking about the North West Coastal Highway and Hosken St intersection in Bluff Point.   

As I cruised North along NWCH last night, a truck next to me in the left lane turned left into Hosken. A black commodore turning right out of Hosken St decided to pull onto the NWCH despite not having superpowers that allowed them to see through trucks. 

I nearly T boned them.  

The worst thing is this isn't the first time this has happened to me there.  

I probably avoided the accident because I was wary that some idiot would pull out.

And running Everything Geraldton for the last 4 years I've reported way too many car accidents at this intersection for my liking. 

To Ian Blayney and Dean Nalder - Please get this intersection improved ASAP. 

In the mean time, if you can't see if the road is clear, for the love of God don't pull out.  

DUI- Four times over the limit

From the Geraldton Police: 

This is not how to park your car. One male charged with DUI.

4 times over the limit and a repair bill. 

Refurbished Mullewa Youth Centre reopens

Shane Love MLA for Moore and Mayor Shane Van Styn officially open the Mullewa Youth Centre.

The popular Mullewa Youth Centre has officially reopened its doors after being closed for four months to allow for an extensive refurbishment of the building and make improvements to the surrounding precinct. 

City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn said the long list of much needed works wouldn’t have been possible to complete without support from Lotterywest. 

“The City’s project budget focused on the building itself and included upgrades to internal and external walls, roof and gutters and the existing toilets along with the installation of new flooring, air conditioning, kitchen cabinets, doors, windows, security screens and disabled access and an ambulant toilet,” he said.

 “Thanks to a Lotterywest grant we were also able to make much needed improvements to the grounds and facilities surrounding the Youth Centre including the installation of mini AFL goals, fencing and reticulation along with resurfacing of the basketball court, replacement of skate park shade shelters and seating, skate park upgrades and landscaping.”

According to Mayor Van Styn, the refurbishment of the highly frequented Centre was the community’s top priority. 

“Last year there were more than 7500 individual visits by young people from Mullewa as well as the surrounding areas of Yalgoo and Pia Wadjari,” he said. 

“The Centre is open 35 hours a week after school and on Saturdays but during the four school holiday periods the Centre is open 48 hours per week to provide important diversionary activities for youth. 

“Which is why the refurbishment of the Centre was identified as the number one priority for Mullewa in the 10 Year Capital Works Plan Community Panel in 2013.” 

The Centre, which is largely funded by the Department for Child Protection and Family Services, offers a variety of recreational and sporting activities and a range of programs around music, healthy cooking, basketball including the Dismantle Bike and School Holiday programs.

The $326,709 project was jointly funded with Lotterywest contributing $176,709 and the City $150,000.

Rough medicine on the high seas

A burial at sea. The Illustrated London News, November 1880
Courtesy State Library of Victoria

Rough Medicine: Life and Death in the Age of Sail will open at the Western Australian Museum – Geraldton on Saturday, 10 September 2016.

WA Museum CEO Alec Coles said the exhibition explores the fascinating history of how illness impacted upon and even shaped early sea voyages from the 17th Century until the advent of the steamship in the late 19th Century.

“Sickness could render a voyage anything from uncomfortable to horrific, or even fatal. Disease spread rapidly in cramped quarters, drinking water was often polluted, food perished and new climates brought new ailments from heatstroke to malaria with few escaping a visit to the ship’s surgeon,” Mr Coles said.

An eye-watering array of surgical instruments features in this absorbing and sometimes confronting exhibition. Ship surgeons carried an array of instruments including saws to amputate limbs, a procedure that only one in three people survived; a cork-screw like trephine to remove sections of skull; tooth keys to break off teeth at their roots; and it was recommended that every ship carried a jar of at least 50 leeches to bleed patients and rebalance the ‘humours’. 

Mr Coles said until ether was trialled in 1846, operations were conducted without anaesthetic and the surgeon’s most prized skill was speed. 

Rough Medicine: Life and Death in the Age of Sail explores immigrant voyages that are part of the histories of thousands of Australians.

The exhibition brings together an extraordinary collection that includes passengers’ letters and diaries, surgeons’ journals and artefacts including bone syringes used to inject mercury, surgical kits, and even jars of parasites and leeches.

South Australian Maritime Museum Senior Curator Lindl Lawton will present a free public lecture, From ‘laudable pus’ to the bloody flux…surviving the age of sail, at the WA Museum – Geraldton from 7pm – 8pm on Friday, 9 September. Those attending will have the opportunity to see a special preview of the exhibition from 6.30pm.

WA Museum – Geraldton Regional Manager Catherine Belcher said places are limited and bookings via 9431 8393 or geraldton.museum@museum.wa.gov.au are essential. 

“This unique opportunity to understand more about life at sea through the focus on ship-borne illness and medical treatments will be an excellent way to begin the exhibition’s time in Geraldton and is sure to book out,” Ms Belcher said.

Rough Medicine is developed, designed and toured by the South Australian Maritime Museum. This free travelling exhibition is supported by Visions Australia and will be on display at the WA Museum – Geraldton until 20 November 2016.

http://museum.wa.gov.au/museums/geraldton/rough-medicine

Funding for community gardens

Nationals WA Member of Parliament and candidate for the seat of Geraldton, Paul Brown MP has welcomed the latest round of funding through the State Government’s Community Gardens Grants Program (CGGP). Funding for community gardens had been extended to 2019-20, which provides $100,000 per year for the establishment and maintenance of community gardens.

"Community gardens are often a central hub of local communities," Mr Brown said.

"They are not just for the green-fingered. They provide people of all generations an area to come together, share a cuppa and their love of the great Western Australian outdoors.

“As well as enabling people to learn about gardening, community gardens can build a greater understanding and a sense of community between neighbours, parents, young people and people from diverse backgrounds.”

Since the introduction of the grants program by the State Government in 2013, 37 projects totalling $464,853 have been funded across Western Australia.

“I am pleased the State Government has made a further commitment to fund the CGGP because community gardens foster community spirit and a sense of stewardship, particularly in regional WA,” Mr Brown said.

“I encourage our local Geraldton community gardens enthusiasts to apply.”

Brand Highway drivers targeted at litter hotspots to keep WA beautiful

Motorists who litter along the Brand Highway are the target of a new campaign to reduce rubbish on roadsides and change long-term litter behaviour to keep the environment clean.

Nationals WA Member of Parliament and candidate for the seat of Geraldton, Paul Brown MP said the State Government had launched the Regional Roadside Litter Prevention Project along three litter hot spots – the Brand Highway, the Great Eastern Highway and the Forrest Highway.

Roadhouses on the Brand Highway that have committed to be a part of the trial are:  

• Gingers Roadhouse Upper Swan
• Caltex Cataby
• Liberty Cataby
• BP Dongara
• Puma Tarcoola Geraldton
• Gull 440 Geraldton

The project is supported by the Keep Australia Beautiful Council (WA) and Main Roads WA, and will run until the end of December.

The project is centred on the “WA Naturally Thanks You” message and will encourage people to do the right thing with their rubbish by promoting a sense of personal responsibility.

As part of the project, informative signage will appear on the roadside and at rest stop bins along the Brand Highway. Complimentary litter bags will also be available at these six roadhouses. The Keep Australia Beautiful Council will also survey drivers at the roadhouses on their reactions to littering.

Based on the results of this trial, the State Government will consider extending the project to other areas of high littering in Western Australia.

Key messages

• The State Government is committed to reducing the volume and types of litter in Western Australia.
• Western Australia needs to reduce its rate of littering to prevent harm to the environment and wildlife. Litter looks unsightly, attracts vermin and damages our waterways.
• The $185,000 Regional Roadside Litter Prevention Project will help reduce litter where it is most prominent along three of our main highways.
• The trial sites are along the Brand Highway, the Great Eastern Highway from Perth to Merredin, and the Forrest Highway.  
• The four month trial is centred on the message “WA Naturally Thanks You” to encourage people to do the right thing with their rubbish by promoting a sense of personal responsibility. 
• The trial includes roadhouses distributing litter bags to drivers. Printed on each bag is a link to a website and an educational quiz about littering issues and correct disposal of rubbish.  
• The Keep Australia Beautiful Council will survey drivers at the participating roadhouses to get their response to the project.  
• Based on the results of this trial, the State Government will consider extending the project to other areas of high littering in Western Australia.  
• The State Government will introduce a container deposit scheme in 2018 to further reduce littering of drink containers in our community.

Everyone is capable of making a difference and I’m confident thanking people in advance for doing the right thing will help change the habit of roadside littering.

Along with a container deposit scheme for Western Australia in 2018, we can make a big difference

Results from the 2015–16 National Litter Index confirmed that roadsides continue to attract high volumes of litter and are the source of most of the litter found in Western Australia.

Greys Beach potentially contaminated from dumping

Following a question at the recent council meeting regarding Geraldton's Beaches, the CGG provided this response, mentioning a potential contamination at a small section of Greys Beach: 

 "The City has received advice from the Department of Environment & Regulation (DER) that a small section at the Greys beach area has some potentially contaminated materials (due to legacy dumping of old building materials). The City is following the DER process and has commissioned a preliminary site investigation for the area, the City is currently in the middle of that process with its consultants. The process needs to meet DER requirements and the extent of any potential clean-up will be determined after those investigations have been completed in conjunction with DER."

Calling all beachcombers – have you seen this sponge?

Not an Agelasaxifera, but this specimen from the Houtman Abrolhos Islands looks similar to the rare sponge the Museum is looking for.

Beachcombers, divers, swimmers and anglers are being asked to help the Western Australian Museum find examples of a very rare marine sponge, Agelasaxifera, known only to the Champion Bay area in Geraldton.  

The Museum is hoping recent storms in the area might have washed the sponges onto the beach. 

WA Museum Head of Aquatic Zoology Dr Jane Fromont said the species was first described in 1911 from the holotype collected at Champion Bay in 1905 – the only known location of Agelasaxifera worldwide. 

A holotype is the first example of a named species ever identified, described and published. The Agelasaxifera holotype was taken to Germany early last century for scientific study and lodged with a museum in Hamburg, but was destroyed during World War II. 

“The WA Museum is looking for a new specimen of this sponge to replace the holotype, which would be known as a neotype,” Dr Fromont said.  

“I would encourage everyone in the Geraldton area who explores the beach to look out for a cup-like sponge with a bumpy surface, and possibly a light brown colour. 

“The best time to make such a discovery is after a storm or whenever Geraldton has big seas. This is when kelp and sponges are torn off the bottom of the ocean and are washed onto the shore.” 

People are asked to first photograph a sponge in situ using their camera or smart-phone so the image records the GPS location of the find. They can then take their discovery to the WA Museum – Geraldton to be tested.  

“Museum staff will perform a bleach test on a small piece of the sponge to determine if it has the characteristic spicules of the Agelas species and, if this is the case, they will preserve the collected specimen in ethanol and arrange for its transport to Perth,” Dr Fromont said. 

“Sponges up to 12 months old may still have molecular value so if you think you found something like the Agelasaxifera in recent times, and you still have it, you can also bring this to the Museum to be assessed.” 

The discovery of a neotype would help the WA Museum identify other sponge specimens in the State Collection, by providing a known example of Agelasaxifera for comparison.

City to review and increase winter mowing schedule

Increased rains this winter has seen accelerated growth of shrubbery on our verges and in our parks, and the City’s normal winter mowing schedule has failed to keep up.

City of Greater Geraldton CEO Ken Diehm has this week said he is aware of the issue and is putting measures in place to address the problem.

“This is simply not acceptable and as CEO I take full responsibility for this failure,” he said.

“We’ve had a lot more rain this season and the simple problem has been that our normal winter mowing schedule just hasn’t kept up with the growth.

“To address this issue, I have instructed my staff to immediately engage additional local contractors to undertake the mowing of our verges and parks as a high priority.”

Residents will see a significant improvement over the next few weeks with contractors now employed for the increased mowing service and Mr Diehm said he will be putting measures in place to ensure the same issues don’t occur next winter.

“This has been a big learning curve for us and we know that things will need to change moving forward,” he said.

“We will be reviewing our winter mowing schedule each year to take into account any changes in weather patterns that accelerate growth on our verges to ensure this problem does not occur again.”

If you have an area of concern please don’t hesitate the City on 9956 6600 or at council@cgg.wa.gov.au

Former Mayor honoured with Freeman title

Mr Ian Carpenter has been named an Honorary Freeman of the City of Greater Geraldton.

Mr Ian Carpenter said he was absolutely blown away and honoured after being named an Honorary Freeman of the City of Greater Geraldton.

The title was bestowed upon the former Mayor on Wednesday evening at a ceremony where he was joined by friends, family, former colleagues and community members.

“I am very honoured to have this title. It’s not something you go looking for but to be judged by your peers on something like this and to be nominated by them is very gratifying,” Mr Carpenter said.

“When I first found out I was really blown away by the sentiment and extremely surprised, it was right out of the blue as some time has gone by since I finished my term as Mayor.”

Mr Carpenter was first elected onto the Council of the City of Geraldton in October 2003. In 2006 he was appointed the position of Acting Mayor and in April 2007 he voluntarily resigned, as did all City Council, in preparation for the Geraldton/Greenough amalgamation.

In October 2007 Mr Carpenter was re-elected as a the inaugural City of Geraldton-Greenough Mayor. In 2009 he was again re-elected as Mayor then publically elected as the inaugural Mayor of the City of Greater Geraldton on 15 October 2011 and remained as Mayor until 2015.

When asked what some of his greatest achievements were as Mayor, Mr Carpenter said, “It wasn’t just me, there were so many people involved in the big projects throughout my time on Council and the Mayor is a figurehead that ensures Council functions together to help our community get the best possible outcomes.”

Mr Carpenter said the transformation of the Foreshore throughout his time as Mayor was just one of the standout achievements.

“I was lucky enough to be on Council for the whole process of the Foreshore from the beginning of the public consultation, working out what amenities the community wanted on our Foreshore, right through to the new Geraldton Multipurpose Centre,” he said.

“It really is fantastic to see it completed and see what it has transformed into today.”

Mr Carpenter also highlighted the collective formation of the WA Regional Capitals Alliance initiative.

Current City of Greater Geraldton Mayor Shane Van Styn congratulated Mr Carpenter and said he had been an inspiration.

“Ian has been an absolute pioneer for the City of Greater Geraldton and he has led our Council for many of the great things we see in our community today,” he said.

“He is very deserving of this honorary title and I know so many others share this opinion.

“I would like to congratulate Mr Carpenter on this feat and thank him for his service and dedication to our community.”

Mr Carpenter was given the title having demonstrated outstanding and meritorious service to the community of the City of Greater Geraldton for many decades. This service includes significant community service to the Apex Club, Variety Club of Australia, Geraldton Sportsman’s Club and Geraldton Squash Rackets Association.

In addition to the above community service, Mr Carpenter’s public service to the community of the City of Greater Geraldton includes serving on a wide range of public institutions, Boards and Committees, such as Midwest Development Commission, Batavia Regional Organisation of Councils, Western Australia Regional Capital Alliance and Regional Capitals Australia.

Mr Carpenter joins other Freeman including Mr Phil Cooper, Mr Anthony Messina, Mr Douglas Brenkley, Mr James Grant, Mr Peter Freeman and past freeman Mr Richard Maslen and Dr Patrick Docherty.

Monsignor Hawes Heritage Centre opened

Nationals WA MP and candidate for the seat of Geraldton, Paul Brown has welcomed the official opening of the Monsignor Hawes Heritage Centre in Geraldton. The opening of the centre coincides with the 100 year anniversary of the laying of the foundation stone for the St Francis Xavier Cathedral, which is considered one of Monsignor Hawes finest works.

The Monsignor Hawes Heritage Centre is a wonderful complement to the St Francis Xavier Cathedral which is an iconic building identifiable to Geraldton,” Mr Brown said.

Representing the Minister for Regional Development Hon Terry Redman MLA at the event, Mr Brown acknowledged the work done by the Roman Catholic Diocese, and the considerable fundraising efforts of the Geraldton community.

“The Monsignor Hawes Heritage Centre is a wonderful example of how a community can support something that they are very passionate about. In this case, the wonderful legacy that Monsignor Hawes has left throughout the Mid West through built infrastructure,” Mr Brown said.

The Monsignor Hawes Heritage Centre will house an extensive collection of Monsignor Hawes artefacts currently held by the Geraldton Diocese. This includes original architectural plans, models, sketches, artisanal objects, assorted memorabilia and furniture. Previously, these artefacts have been held without an appropriate display and preservation forum.

“Preservation of these artefacts is important to ensure that the Mid West legacy of Monsignor Hawes lives on, and is shared via the tourism opportunity that the Heritage Centre now offers visitors to the Mid West,” Mr Brown said.

Funding of the $3.6 million project was made possible from:

•   Royalties for Regions, with $1.541 million provided through the Mid West

  Development Commission’s Mid West Investment Plan;

•   Lotterywest ($651,038);

•   The Roman Catholic Diocese; and

•   Community fundraising efforts.

  The Monsignor Hawes Heritage Centre will be the interpretive gateway to the Monsignor Hawes story, and showcase the 23 Monsignor Hawes buildings throughout the Mid West, encouraging locals and visitors alike to visit all 23 sites along the Monsignor Hawes heritage trail.

Thanks to S&K Electrical for the images. St Francis Xavier Cathedral.