Sydney colonial relic at Botany Bay falling into disrepair

LA PEROUSE MUSEUM was once open 5 days a week. Now it’s only open on Sunday. The heritage site is in decline. Find out what you can do to help.

Randwick City Tourism manager Lynda Newnam outside the heritage La Perouse Museum and Visitor Centre. Picture: Craig Wilson

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PAINT blisters off the cherry red surface of La Perouse Museum in great chunks.

It’s windows are boarded up with cardboard and the landscaped gardens are all but lost to weeds.

There’s even a gaping crack in the render, running right up the spine of the heritage building.

It’s still open but some windows are boarded up.

Large cracks are appearing in the museum’s facade.

But the museum is still open — for one day a week.

It’s decay is symbolic of wider problems in the La Perouse region of Kamay Botany Bay National Park, Randwick City Tourism president Lynda Newnam says.

She says the region of Kurnell, not La Perouse, receives most of the financial support doled out to the national park.

“The national park is split between the north and the south, but it’s very difficult to get a focus that’s just for La Perouse,” Ms Newnam says.

“They’re very different markets and we’ve got to make sure the northern region doesn’t get overlooked.”

Lynda Newnam is hoping Bare Island’s historical significance as the site of a 19th century military fort will get more focus in the National Parks’ renewed management plan.

National Parks manages much of public space in La Perouse, including the museum, and for the first time in 16 years its management plan for the protected land will be revised.

Residents can now have their say on how the Kamay Botany Bay National Park is managed.

Ms Newnam hopes residents will take the time to complete the survey and support the famous peninsula.

“There’s limitations when you don’t have good facilities,” she says.

“There’s very little signage for the walks and you wouldn’t even know there’s all this military heritage.

“It’s just very lacking.”

Bare Island, La Perouse. Picture: Craig Wilson

She says La Perouse museum is languishing as a result.

Built in 1882, the heritage building is a beacon of Australian colonial history and marks the site of the first fleet landing in 1788.

For the last 30 years the old cable station has housed a shrine to Jean-François La Pérouse — a French explorer who was only days behind the first fleet.

But recently the museum’s opening hours have dwindled from daily to once a week.

If you want to see improved facilities, better access and conservation of key sites at La Perouse then complete the survey www.surveymonkey.com/r/kamaybotanybay by October 23.