Call for 'prominent' memorial for loved ones lost at sea

Barbara Heazlewood, who lost her husband Gerald 'Prop' and son David at sea, is calling for a prominent memorial as part of the Warrnambool Foreshore Framework Plan.

"Everywhere else has got a memorial," Mrs Heazlewood said. "Why can't we?"

The men were on David's professional cray fishing boat when it overturned near Peterborough in January 2000.

Gerald was aged 58 and their son David was 35.

Her husband had offered to help out their son with his cray fishing boat that day.

The two set out on January 12, 2000 and her husband was found the next day.

Her son wasn't found until two weeks later.

"It's 24 years in January and I can still remember every single detail to the second, like it was yesterday," Mrs Heazlewood said.

"I just still can't believe it. We were really close. Prop and I were like one person joined at the hips. We were best mates."

Mrs Heazlewood, 80, said it would be fitting for the memorial to be constructed in time for the pair's 25^th anniversary, which is just over a year away.

She said the couple knew each other as children and got together after reuniting at The Palais when Mrs Heazlewood was 16.

"I told my girlfriends the next day I'm going to marry him," she said. "I just knew."

They married when she was 21. Their son David was born shortly after and daughter Lisa arrived three and-a-half years later.

Mrs Heazlewood said currently there were four informal plaques families had stuck on the breakwater wall near the boom gate, including one with her husband's and son's names.

"They're just little squares," she said. "People aren't looking at them when they're walking along which is a shame," she said. "That's why I think we should have a memorial."

Mrs Heazlewood said most people didn't know the existing plaques were there, calling for a more visible memorial where other south-west families could add their loved ones' names.

"There needs to be something prominent that people would go and look at," she said.

She said the undercover fish cleaning tables at the breakwater, installed in 2020, would have been the "ideal" place for a memorial.

Mrs Heazlewood was instrumental in lobbying for a coast guard for the city after their deaths and was the first person to put up her hand to volunteer with the service.

She has held various volunteer roles including deputy commander, a position she was in for six years.

Mrs Heazlewood was one of more than 20 residents who attended a workshop on Thursday, November 30, 2023 as part of the council's "big picture" plan to get ideas for the future of the area as it begins work on formulating a Warrnambool Foreshore Framework Plan.

One suggestion included a loop road through the "jungle" on Warrnambool's foreshore which could help solve the summer traffic jam at Stingray Bay.

Other suggestions and ideas included repairing the city's "deteriorating" breakwater, ongoing calls to restore beach views from McGennan Car Park, removal of seaweed from Lady Bay, extending the car park to the east of the Pavilion and more parking near the surf club, a playground and barbecues at the breakwater and a fenced off swimming area in the bay below the breakwater.

The public can contribute ideas via an online survey on the Warrnambool City Council website's your say page until January 12, 2024.

Go to yoursaywarrnambool.com.au/have-your-say-warrnambool-foreshore-framework-plan for more information.