GRASS NOT ALWAYS GREENER ELSEWHERE

Interesting to hear that the FRRAemantle Society committee has decided to not support former Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association convenor Claudia Green for the City Ward council election. FS Committee voted to support Michael Finn, one of the Kakula’s Sisters owners instead.

I have no doubt that many FRRA members will not at all be happy about that and now regret the recent merger with the Fremantle Society. FS president John Dowson endorsed Ms Green, so that will make for uncomfortable Society committee meetings.

I would welcome some small business owners on Fremantle Council as that expertise is missing and most people cannot imagine what it is like to run a small shop or cafe.

These small businesses are often not well represented at local and state government levels since they cannot afford to become a member of the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce, and it is mainly Fremantle BID that tries to look after and promote them.

Roel Loopers

 

NEW SOCIETY PRESIDENT WILL MAKE NO DIFFERENCE

The announcement that former Fremantle Councillor John Dowson has nominated to become the next president of the Fremantle Society made me contemplate how effective community groups in our city have been in recent years.

When I became the president of FS I wanted to get rid off the us and them thinking, with some committee members believing Fremantle Council was the enemy of FS. I believed we could achieve more with respectful dialogue, getting into the ears of the elected members, push for changes to development applications and policies and collaborate with the City of Fremantle. President Henty Farrar who took over from me, and I as vice president, very much continued that way, but I believe it has been a failure.

But it is not only the Fremantle Society who has failed to make any impact, and the demise started well before Henty and I were in charge, but the Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association and the Fremantle Inner City Residents Association also fell onto deaf ears when approaching Council.

According to Fremantle Council there is a large silent majority in our community who exactly want what all of us who speak up and participate in community consultation oppose, so we really have Buckley’s of finding any consideration for our views. That will not change under a Dowson lead Fremantle Society, it will just become more black&white and us versus them and more negativity. I don’t believe that is good for Fremantle, but neither was the previous respectful and collaborative way of dealing with the City, because our views were disrespectfully ignored.

A lot of blame should go to those who did not bother to vote at the last local government election, and contrary to some opinions I read it is not an endorsement of the sitting members or a rejection of those who nominated, but it was a vote for apathy, so Freo gets the Council it deserves because 75 percent of voters could not bother to vote.

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt has turned from a community leader into a manipulative politician whose word can no longer be trusted. He will tell you face to face that black is black but will argue at Council that black is white and gets away with it. Pettitt has a lot of influence behind the scenes and uses that power to push his own sustainability agenda. While Pettitt believes he can demand respect as Mayor of our city he and Council have long stopped treating the community with respect. They treat community consultation as a necessary nuisance, a mere box that has to be ticked under local government laws.

In my opinion it will not make one iota of a difference if John Dowson or Elvis Presley becomes the president of the Fremantle Society because we are trying to communicate with people who have earmuffs on to stop that annoying noise the community makes.

Roel Loopers

LOCAL COUNCIL DEMOCRACY MYTH

The recent debate at Fremantle Council about Ward representation and local government elections made me think about the relevance of them when only around 25 percent of the electorate bothers to vote at Council elections, while the rest stays at home. So do we really get community representation and the claimed community democracy I speak so highly about?

Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association(FRRA) President Mark Woodcock made good points earlier this week about it, writing that in the 2011 Council election Bill Massie, Jon Strachan and Robert Fittock got in unopposed while in the 2013 election Josh Wilson and David Cogging did not have candidates standing against them. North Fremantle Ward Councillor Fittock was unopposed at the 2007 and 2011 elections, so how could he possibly claim to speak on behalf of constituents.

That is not an attack on Robert or any of the other unopposed Elected Members, but showing that there is an unbelievable apathy when it comes to electing community leaders to speak on our behalf at local councils. From memory just over 25% of voters bothered to vote at the last Freo Council election.

In light of these figures, would it make one iota of a difference if we have a Ward system in place at the start of the council amalgamation with East Fremantle? Aren’t Wards very NIMBY anyway and not relevant to the bigger picture, because Councillors are required to vote for what they consider best for the entire community, not just the Wards they represent.

We often read about silent majorities when elected members in local, state and federal governments go against the opinion of the vocal and involved members of the public, but if the so-called silent majority at Council level can’t bother to vote they have no voice and should not claim to have a silent one.

If you can’t be bothered to turn up at the Townhall once every four years to vote for your preferred local candidate for your Ward than you have given away your right to whinge and to expect better representation for your local issues. You are not part of the silent majority but of the apathetic majority. That apathy is shown every week at Council committees and full Council when hardly anyone turns up in the public gallery. Often it is just Mark Woodcock and I who sit through those evenings observing how local democracy works. Only those with a self interest now and then turn up and address council, often not even understanding basic Council procedures.

Democracy is a privilege that people in many countries in the world still only can dream about, but we in the western world take it for granted and give it the cold shoulder, when it should really matter to all of us who will lead Fremantle into the future. Having Wards is less important than getting rid of voters apathy.

Roel Loopers

ARE WARDS BETTER FOR LOCAL COUNCIL DEMOCRACY?

How important are Wards is local government? Do they make a difference to how Councillors vote when they are elected to represent the whole community and not just the Ward that voted them in? Is not having Wards better than having them, or will it make no difference at all?

Every member of the public can contact any of their local members and they don’t have to talk to the Councillors in their Ward if they believe another Councillor could be more supportive of the issues that are a concern, so why have Wards then.

Is it a problem that political parties might get involved if the Wards system is not reinstated after the council amalgamations, when most Councillors are members of political parties anyway and receive support from their parties during election campaigns.

But if Wards are too localised for local government, why not also scrap regional state voting. Does it matter if a member lives in Kununnura or Albany?

Not having Wards in Fremantle at elections could hypothetically see no local representation for East or North Fremantle, etc, and I bet the residents and businesses there would be concerned about that. Or should as FRRA president Mark Woodcock suggests Wards be divided after the election and Councillors will randomly get a Ward they are responsible for?

We know that in the bigger picture of voting at Council, local representation is not wanted because Councillors have to be impartial and vote for what is best for the entire community, not just a select few in their Ward.

I believe it would be good to have a public debate about it and while it will be up to State Government to keep the Wards system or abandon it, it would be interesting to hear the views of the broader community on this.

Roel Loopers

WHY BLANDNESS INSTEAD OF VISUAL DELIGHT?

Maybe the full moon is to blame, but there is a sadness and bewilderment in me that we in Fremantle still have to keep fighting to preserve heritage and character in our city. It should be a given for developers and our Councillors that the preservation of Fremantle’s uniqueness is not something that will be compromised, no matter how good a deal we are being promised by developers.

Let me make it absolutely clear that I am not against change, progress and new development. In fact I would really love to see many new outstanding modern buildings in the CBD, which enhance and compliment the beauty of our city and heritage buildings, and I am definitely not talking about mock-heritage, but stand-alone iconic modern architecture.

But why, whenever new development is proposed, does the 44 year-old Fremantle Society still have to step in, address Council, write submissions, talk to Elected Members and try to preserve what should not even be debatable. Heritage preservation should not be an issue, it should be the norm that has no exceptions, a local policy set in concrete that won’t budge for big money and even bigger promises.

It should not be up to local community groups like the Society, Fremantle Inner City Residents Association, Ratepayers and Residents Association, and precinct groups, to constantly having to remind Council that we are not willing to compromise our past and heritage, and that is not because we are against change, but simply because we believe change can happen in those areas where it does not compromise heritage.

The owners of Atwell Arcade for example also own the dreadful Target and Gloria Jeans buildings just east of Kings Square, so why do they see the need to compromise the Atwell Arcade’s heritage when they could have what they want by building a new modern building on the Target site, that would be the neighbour of the planned new hotel just down the road in Adelaide Street.

I am a bit tired of constantly having to speak negatively about new development, because the proposals are inappropriate for Fremantle. I would so much like to stand up in Council Chambers and tell everyone how much I love a new amazingly designed new building for our city, but sadly we only seem to be getting mediocrity instead of greatness, and blandness instead of visual delight.

Roel Loopers

IS COMMUNITY CONSULTATION RELEVANT?

I was wondering how relevant community consultation is in Fremantle, but also at State level. Is community consultation mainly tokenism that looks as if proper process has been followed because it is required by law, or is it a genuine attempt by elected members and officers to find out what the community wants?

Look at the High Street widening and the effective Road2Rail campaign. Although this group could have been dismissed as a narrow-focus NIMBY group, Fremantle Council decided it was not going to accept the Main Roads proposal. The same applies for the officer tomorrow recommending that the Strategic and Planning Committee will not go ahead with a basketball court on Wilson Park at South Beach. Again the community objection to it comes from a narrow-focus NIMBY group of local residents, but their concerns have been noted and accepted.

Now look at the developments that Fremantle Council accepted although there was a massive opposition to them and one has to wonder if there is any consistency at Fremantle Council at all when it comes to listening to the community.

When it came to Planning Scheme Amendment 49, the Esplanade Youth Plaza and the J Shed micro brewery development, the opposition of residents was ignored and Council signed off on it anyway, despite community consultation and majority submissions against it.

We heard Elected members talking about anti-development, narrow-focus, the demographic of those opposing it, and even the age of the opponents, and the word NIMBY was muttered here and there as well.

So when do Councillors act in the best interest of the community? Does anyone in the west of Freo care much about the widening of High Street and Stirling Highway, does anyone in the CBD get upset about noise and anti social behaviour at South Beach, so when does protest become relevant and why is it more relevant in some cases and locations than in others?

We have heard Councillors say that they make decisions for the whole community and not just for affected locals, so why is that different at South Beach and High Street than it is at the Esplanade, J Shed, etc?

And when the concerns of the Road2Rail group are taken serious by Freo Council, why are the concerns of community groups such as FICRA, the Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association and the Fremantle Society dismissed and not acted upon?

I believe it is an interesting issue to contemplate about, and maybe we should even have community debate about it.

Roel Loopers

 

 

 

REVITALISE FREO STICKERS

The new Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association has produced car stickers to create higher public awareness of the present community consultation process on the proposed changes to Scheme Amendment 49, which is about allowing higher buildings in the inner city at specific sites.

REVITALISE WITHOUT HIGHRISE IN FREO is the slogan, and although the highrise part of it is arguable, as the maximum proposed heights are nine storeys, I am happy to put one on my car and hand them out, as I believe we need to have more intense participation from the wider community. Anything that will provoke thoughts, and debate around coffee tables, is positive in my opinion, and these bumper stickers might well do that.

Today and tomorrow the City of Fremantle will be conducting walking tours, where you will be able to see the sites and be informed on what the plans for it are. Starting at Kings Square today from 4-7. Check out other details on the City’s website.

This is a great chance and challenge for Fremantle to become an even better place, so do participate in the debate! Together we can get it right.

Roel Loopers

HERALD MISREPORTS FRRA

A new Fremantle organistaion deserves a fair go, so when I received a comment by Marion Kiely of the brand new FREMANTLE RESIDENTS AND RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION, correcting a report in today’s Fremantle Herald, I did not just want to publish it as a comment, so here it is:

Marian Kiely, Chairperson, Fremantle Resident & Ratepayers Association (FreoR&R or FRRA) – statement by Herald “the FRRA opposes anything more than three-storeys” is an error of fact. I was also referred to as a Chartered Accountant (CA) when I clearly stated that I was a CPA (Certified Practising Accountant) – the term CA was never mentioned NOR was a height restriction of three storeys!!!!
I will be contacting the Herald next week to have this corrected and possibly to include some of the real and valid arguments that were put forward but not expressed in the article.
Essentially, the purpose of the FreoR&R is to oversee City of Fremantle development plans and to take whatever action is necessary to redefine and change ill defined or inappropriate development.

I hope this clears it up. I am sure FRRA will become a major lobby group in Fremantle that will keep council on its toes.

Roel Loopers

KEEPING FREO SO LOW IS ALSO NO GO

Fremantle has another lobby group in the newly established Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association (FRRA). The first action of the new group was to produce bumper stickers that read VITALISE WITHOUT HIGH RISE.

It is disappointing though to hear the in my opinion unrealistic view of the association, which opposes any new development above three storeys. Surely Fremantle can handle a bit more height that three storeys. We can’t remain a large country town forever and need to grow and grow up.

Roel Loopers.