SUNSET EVENTS has dropped plans for live music at Arthur Head and says it’s going to focus on a scaled-back Fremantle-style food and arts venue.
The events promotion company has been meeting with stakeholders over the last few weeks to refine plans for the end studio at the J-Sheds and CEO Dave Chitty says they’ll be ready to submit a new development application to Fremantle council soon.
Mr Chitty says a trial period had shown the large-scale outdoor concerts couldn’t work at the site, generating too many complaints from residents and upsetting nearby arts businesses.
• An artist’s impression of Sunset Events’ J-Shed proposal.
“I think we are just going to focus on concerts in the Drill Hall and do the large-scale entertainment in parks,” he told the Herald.
Mr Chitty said the trial had shown beach barbecues had worked well, and said the venue would buck the trend of seaside restaurants going upmarket and try to find its niche with a more laid-back Freo feel more targeted at families.
It would be capped at 400 patrons.
He says they’ve had discussions with Fremantle council and the WAPC following the trial and he’s confident the current proposal can meet the latter’s concerns about the site needing a low-key focus in keeping with its rich heritage.
Mr Chitty says they’ll be focusing more on the heritage with the revised proposal, saying he’s seen overseas how it can be a boon for businesses by engaging customers.
Sunset will be applying for a restricted tavern licence.
On Monday, though, the proposal got a hostile reception from artists working on Arthur Head and nearby residents.
Mr Chitty says there is some justification for the group’s anger and mistrust, but says he’s rejigging the plans to take their concerns into account and he hopes that the final iteration will be well received.
by STEVE GRANT
So can we take it from these comments there is no need for a tavern license?
If its all about arts and food he will not need his liquor license one would think
Otherwise it will still be a noisy place with a few less less drunks than before but still enough to destroy the west-end atmosphere, heritage and ambiance of local residents.
We see regularly on FB, anti-social issues in and around these areas, another big booze barn by the sea is certainly not needed in Freo.
It appears the focus is being portrayed as arts and food or is it more marketing to attempt to hide a smaller version or his booze barn with plans to grow i’m sure once they have shoehorned themselves into place.
Will this new proposal or arts and food still have a microbrewery, inside?
Seems the arts and food focus is slipping already.