A new community organisation has been launched to preserve the Bellerive Bluff Battery, a 145-year-old fort that’s been slowly deteriorating since it was decommissioned more than a century ago.
The Bellerive Bluff Battery Association will hold its inaugural event on Saturday, featuring marching bands and a sausage sizzle to drum up support for the historic site overlooking the Derwent River.
Bill Lawson, the association’s inaugural president, said the fort was built in 1881 during fears of a Russian invasion but was decommissioned just 28 years later without ever firing a shot.
“It’s a well-hidden gem and it could be so much more for tourism, heritage, education, wildlife, land care, all sorts of stuff,” Lawson told Pulse.
The site, roughly the size of a football ground, still contains two 30-foot cannons and a network of underground tunnels and rooms that remain locked to the public.
Lawson, who has lived next door to the fort for 40 years, said Parks and Wildlife Service maintains the site on a minimal state government budget.
“They do the best they can. They mow the grass and do a bit of repair work on some stone walls but it’s a bloody big installation,” he said.
The association spent four years discussing the project before incorporating as a registered charity.
Foundation membership costs $10 for individuals and $100 for organisations, closing on May 31.
“Once we start it, we’ll sit down and talk with all these different stakeholders and see what we can agree are the top priorities,” Lawson said.
The association will then pursue funding to implement agreed improvements to prevent the site “slipping off into oblivion”.
