NORTH FREMANTLE business owners who say they’re on the brink of closure because of the Fremantle Traffic Bridge closure say the local council hasn’t done enough to support them.

With traffic essentially rerouted away from the town centre, the usually busy little strip has seen customer numbers trickle away each day.

Bruce Town Café is on Queen Victoria Street opposite the Town Hall and owner MJ, who only wanted to go by her initials, says they have suffered immensely.

“No one had a crystal ball so no one knew how bad this would be,” MJ said.

“We have tried advertising on social media, but nothing is working. 

“It’s like living in slow motion and when winter comes things will move slower.”

• Autentici Pizza E Gelato’s Yosra Romdhani had some Freo A-listers out for a slice on Thursday with George and Ivy’s Kat and Paul out with their kids, but she says the bridge closure has meant they’ve lost much of their afternoon trade – and that’s just after scoring top spot on Google’s pizza search for Perth.

MJ was passionate in her critique of Fremantle council’s support for local businesses.

“The only support we get is from regular customers and the people from Bridge Alliance. 

”There has been no other support. 

“It’s all just talk when no one gets any help. 

“We are just hoping for the best, that’s all we can do.”

Melody Wheels owner Adrian Emilsen said the bridge closure had not affected his specialty business too hard. 

He still wasn’t singing the council’s praises, however, as he has concerns about its focus.

“The North Fremantle precinct is being neglected by the council,” he said.

“The footpaths, the public domain and the management of parking have been ignored for over a decade. 

“There’s an increasing number of problems with loading zones and generally speaking the footpaths are a mess,” he said.

“There’s a real lack of action and vision.

“The problem is that there’s always talk about these mega plans in the future, but when it comes to making small meaningful changes, they just aren’t happening.”

North Fremantle Community Association convenor Jerry MacGill said the closure had severely impacted the community.

“It’s created a very considerable issue getting in and out of the suburb,” Mr MacGill said.

“There has been severe jamming up of local streets and some people have not been able to get out of their driveways. 

“We know we can’t get major road works but there’s a lot of small things they can do,” he said of the council.

“All we want to do I sit down with people and say ‘look this is our experience’ and we can suggest some relatively simple things to help.”

by AIDEN THEOBALD