THE Fremantle Society says the port city needs its own redevelopment authority.
With Westport plans to move container trade from Fremantle to Kwinana paving the way for a wholesale change to the city, the society says a sensitive authority that dips into local expertise could help avoid mistakes president John Dowson says have damaged the city’s heritage fabric.
Society president John Dowson told the Herald he’d met with a wide range of people to prepare a new manifesto for the society.
• The Society says a decade of inappropriate development has set Fremantle on the wrong path and has damaged its heritage fabric.
“A major ‘revitalisation’ program from 2009 to 2021 under [former] mayor Brad Pettitt saw the unsustainable sell-off of council-owned, income-producing assets and a preponderance of insensitive, low-quality, large-box new developments,” Mr Dowson said.
“With Future of Fremantle committees and plans for another ‘revitalisation’ to make Fremantle a ‘modern city’, there is need for local expertise to articulate priorities.
Mr Dowson says he’s been meeting with a wide range of people to form a new manifesto for the society, and this week sat down with former Fremantle MP David Parker and former councillors Ian Ker (Vincent) and Marija Vujcic (Fremantle) to map it out.
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Fremantle Society manifesto
FREMANTLE is loved the world over as a rare example of a 19th century port town, with the 1897 port still operational next to the heritage listed West End.
The special heritage qualities of Victoria Quay at the port, the West End, and the historic town need sensitive maintenance and development which respects for example the human scale and various histories of those areas.
The location of taller new development should go elsewhere in Fremantle.
Heritage: Where is the love?
Fremantle has 2,600 listed heritage places. Why have Fremantle council and the state government walked away from Fremantle’s fabulous heritage – a key attractor and soul-stirring asset?
Maintenance: Get back to basics
Clean the footpaths, wash the buildings, do regular maintenance. The state government’s failure to maintain its Spare Parts Puppet Theatre in Pioneer Park led to emergency repairs costing $440,000, abandonment of the building, no repairs, and the loss of the theatre to Claremont. Their Henderson Street police complex could have been fixed for $20 million, instead of selling it and spending $100 million damaging the buffer zone of the World Heritage Prison with a proposed overlarge new development.
Implement Existing Plans
Fremantle council spent $150,000 preparing plans for an archaeological centre at Pioneer Park – still not built. Pioneer Park needs refurbishment as part of the Phillimore Street Masterplan, designed to link the port and the city – still not implemented. Other conservation and interpretation plans for Arthur Head, Fremantle Park, Esplanade Park etc lie on council shelves gathering dust. Some, like the Fremantle Oval Conservation Plan, are not even finished before council has decided to focus on the wrong priorities for the heritage site, like housing. The World Heritage Prison next door needs both federal and state help and is $18m short on what they need to get essential conservation works done according to their masterplan.
A Different Planning System
The WA government should look into creating a Fremantle Development Authority: The current Development Assessment Panels for major developments over $2m are not working – they take longer than council processes, decisions are not made by experts who know Fremantle, and neither the community nor the council have faith in them to deliver quality outcomes. A new system modelled on the former East Perth Development Authority involving local expert knowledge, council input, and expert planners would improve development outcomes.
Aim High
We have a Bicentennial Coming and leadership is needed from council and government regarding the chance for a memorable Bicentenary celebration of indigenous and settler history in 2029. One idea: Celebrate waterways including ocean and river (and the history of its river crossings in Fremantle). Hold an Ocean and River Festival. Bring back black swans to the Swan River, develop an underwater maritime heritage trail at Bather’s Beach for divers. Another idea: The Fremantle Society suggests keeping Victoria Hall instead of selling it, promoting it as a performing arts space along with the fabulous but neglected interior of the Fremantle Town Hall, for a Bicentennial project. If Perth Concert Hall can get $169 million for repairs and His Majesty’s Theatre $50 million for a replacement verandah, where is Fremantle council advocacy for Fremantle?
Victoria Quay
Development of the gritty industrial maritime heritage of Victoria Quay must follow Fremantle council’s policy DGF26 and the Victoria Quay Conservation Plan in respecting the height of the existing sheds and not introducing high rise buildings. With the sad imminent demise of the wooden traffic bridge, Fremantle Ports have responded to the Fremantle Society idea to recycle some timber from the heritage bridge into the port as a “great suggestion”.