FREMANTLE’S LITTLE GHOST TOWN

All of this summer, the buildings that once housed Mac Donalds, Wagamama and the Dome cafe, on Bathers Beach in Fremantle’s Fishing Boat Harbour, have been vacant. The abandoned look is absolutely awful in that part of town, even more so with a fence surrounding the long jetty as well. It is disgraceful that this is what we offer tourists who come to that part of the city to see the Round House, Maritime and Shipwreck Museum, and who want to sit at the beach for lunch or dinner. It’s also not fair to the two remaining operators The View and Sweetlips.

If international companies like Mac Donalds and Wagamama can’t make it work, and the nationally succesful Dome chain had to leave, it must be an indication of the ridiculously high rents demanded for these locations.Will they still be empty when the 2011 International Sailing Championships will be held off Bathers Beach in November/December, or might badly needed small wine bars have made their way to this superb location? It’s a fantastic spot for an iconic development as well.

Roel Loopers

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