PLANS to redevelop Fremantle’s Atwell Arcade sailed through a special council meeting Wednesday with just one dissenter.
Developer Gerard O’Brien told councillors he’d scaled back his plans as requested and, basically, the city needed his project.
It was a theme a number of speakers and councillors touched on throughout the night, the thought of 1900 hospital jobs soon to leave the city fresh in people’s minds.
Cr Jon Strachan, a long-time member of the Fremantle Society, had concerns but felt the plans had been improved on what was originally submitted. If Mr O’Brien followed the recommendations of the council’s development advisory council he was confident the outcome would be positive for the CBD.
A number of mall traders stood before the microphone during public question time to speak their minds, saying business was the worst it had been in 15 years—and still spiraling down. They urged the councillors to approve the plans.
The only councillor to vote against the proposal—surprisingly—was the usually pro-development Bill Massie, who represents Hilton ward.
DAC member Sasha Ivanovich, a local architect, said the revised plans were sensitive to the precinct’s heritage.
“The city will achieve a high quality outcome in the conservation and restoration of the arcade and the two highly valued buildings bounding the site,” he said.
“The overall development should breathe much-needed new life into a key destination of the city and stimulate further investment in the city core.”
Former Fremantle Society president John Dowson disagreed, saying the “1960s-style open floor plate retail development in the midst of gold rush architecture with a clumsy large glass box on top” would irreversibly damage the area.
The former deputy mayor also took the council to task for not reforming the DAC, as recommended by Fremantle’s inner city residents’ group, saying it needed an urban planner and not just architects.
The planned four-storey Atwell building, which has a basement, will include office and retail components and Mr O’Brien says he has tenants ready to bring 300 staff into the struggling CBD.
by STEVE GRANT