IT was standing room only at the North Fremantle community hall on Tuesday as 120 residents gathered to hear about plans to ramp up residential density around the old Matilda Bay Brewery.

Fremantle council is about to decide on a new policy which proposes lifting the height limits to 33 metres on a section of the brewery and Tasker’s site across the road. (We reported last week that the council’s planning committee wanted to go to 42 metres, but they later got vertigo and ditched that idea which we missed—sorry about that).

Council’s acting director of planning Paul Garbutt presented the North Fremantle Community Association and Precinct with plans showing perspectives and potential overshadowing and later took questions from the crowd.

Most of the debate was dominated by concerns about traffic and xparking, with opposition to opening up Thompson Road to McCabe Street strongly outlined by many of the speakers. Many also queried the cumulative density of the three sites covered by the policy (the old One Steel factory is also roped in).

Once Mr Garbutt, mayor Brad Pettitt and councillors Andrew Sullivan and Doug Thompson left, the association voted to ask the council to defer a decision on the sites and instigate further consultation. It also wants all moves to open Thompson Road dropped and for the council to consider ways other than high towers to increase the density of the area.

by STEVE GRANT