FREO FAIR TRADE PARTY

FREO LEISURE CENTRE STAFF LOSE JOBS

A regular reader of this blog emailed me to say he just found out that all staff of the Fremantle Leisure Centre will lose their job because of the development there that will take up to seven months to complete.

I am not sure how major the works at the pool are and why it has to take so long, but why staff would lose their jobs over it is unfair to them. I hope some union will look into this and see how the staff can be protected.

Roel Loopers

UPDATE: Fremantle Mayor Dr Brad Pettitt emailed me to say that only casual staff will lose their jobs but permanent staff will be redeployed.

LOOPY BLOGGER ON HOLIDAY

All you good people of Fremantle and from far and wide who are regular readers of this Freo’s View blog will get a rest as I will be heading to the gorgeous south coast tomorrow until mid next week. It means I won’t be at the Fremantle Anzac Day parade on Thursday and will miss it, but I am so much looking forward to the stunning coast line and the cute city of Albany. I hope to drive to Denmark and Walpole and the Porongurup, so you might get to see some pictures from there when I return early May.

Look after Freo for me and don’t let anyone mess it up while I am away. ; >)

Don’t forget the FICRA public forum on Tuesday at 7 pm at the Tannock Hall of Notre Dame University.

Talk to you all on May 2 again.

Roel Loopers

BE PART OF THE FREMANTLE FESTIVAL!

From my friends at the Fremantle Festivals Office comes this notice:

Registrations open now for the FREMANTLE FESTIVAL from 27 October – 10 November 2013.
Australia’s longest running festival the Fremantle Festival, is a celebration of 108 years of the magical culture that makes Fremantle so unique. Shaped largely by the imaginations of local artists, performers, and schools the Festival is a vibrant hub of community and arts.

In 2012 over 100 events were included in the Festival along with the major events including the Blessing of the Fleet, Children’s Fiesta, Wardarnji, Norfolk Lanes Youth Festival, Black Box theatre, Town Hall program and the Street Parade.

Fringe
 Shaped by our community passion, diversity and imagination your ideas and events are crucial in developing the festival. Previous events have included soccer competitions, a ukulele play along and barista competition. We can also assist you in finding an unexpected venue.

The Black Box Theatre is an intimate theatre venue where audiences can seek out new work from both emerging and experienced theatre practitioners. It is a place for experimentation, a launch pad for new ideas. It is back to basics – pure theatre where the actors and the audience are so close they can touch. Located upstairs at Spare Parts Puppet Theatre (1 Short Street) near the Fremantle Railway Station.

The Town Hall is available exclusively for Fremantle Festival events. The Hall has a capacity of 500 and is provided to the sucessful event at no charge. The event holder must cover, production, security and food and beverage services. For more information and to download a booking form for the town hall and Kings Square visit the website.

The grand old Victoria Hall formly Deckchair Theatre is available for for Fremantle Festival. Capacity is 261 persons and is provided to the sucessful event at no charge. the event holders must cover, production, security and food and beverage services.

Roel Loopers

BEETHOVEN, MOZART AND RIES AT FREMANTLE TOWN HALL

After ANZAC Day many may need a bit of time for contemplation next weekend, so what better way to do it then listening to the sublime classical music of the FREMANTLE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA.

In 2013, FCO and Christopher van Tuinen presents a Beethoven piano concerto series.  Talented young pianist Tristan Murphy is soloist in Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto. Ferdinand Ries is a Beethoven contemporary and his compositions are unjustly neglected.  Together with Mozart’s fantastic Haffner Symphony this is a program not to be missed.
Christopher van Tuinen (conductor)

Ferdinand Ries: Overture “L’Apparition”
Mozart: Haffner Symphony
Beethoven: Piano concerto No3 (soloist Tristan Murphy)

Saturday 27 April Fremantle Town Hall @ 3pm
Sunday 28 April Wesley Church, Perth City @ 3pm
 

I AM SHOOTING IN THE RAIN

With an eye for detail one always finds beauty in the ordinary when wandering around Fremantle, as I did today while waiting for someone at the Moore&Moore Cafe in Henry Street. I noticed these beautiful arty patterns on a bench made by raindrops and thought they created intriguing photos.

Roel Loopers

SHOULD FREO CITY REPAIR WARDERS COTTAGES?

On Tuesday the 23rd FICRA (Fremantle Inner City Residents Association) will hold a public meeting at Tannock Hall of the Notre Dame University. It starts at 7 pm and I hope many residents and elected members will attend and have a robust debate about Fremantle’s future.

I am glad the FICRA advertisement was changed as the first one looked too much like a lynch mob attack. The second one is more restraint and professional and even looks better.

One of the points FICRA wants to talk about is if the City of Fremantle should spend around 6 million dollars to renovate the historic Henderson Street Warders Cottages. For me personally that is a real dilemma. I doubt there is a single person in Fremantle who is happy with the state of disrepair of the badly neglected vacant cottages next to the Fremantle Markets, but should the City take over the responsibility from our wealthy state to repair and upgrade them so they become usable again? Where would the City get the money from when the National Trust failed to get a grant from Lotterywest to renovate the buildings, and if the City would be paying for it, how would they recoup that investment? I support the idea to make the cottages into short-term tourist accommodation Bead&Breakfast, but it would take a very long time before the City would get its money back that way. Is that a good investment in the future and can we trust the City to look after the cottages well when they have neglected the historic Arthur Head buildings for years?

What it comes down to is what is best for the cottages and Fremantle. There is no doubt the buildings need to be renovated with urgency and the Department of Housing should do that without delay. The National Trust is not a good option as they already have too many buildings to look after and not enough funding to do so, according to a senior NT officer I spoke with recently. Six million dollar would be a huge amount of money for a small city like Freo to spend on buildings they would not own but only lease from the Western Australian state government, so why take on that task when there has not even been enough money to look after the Town Hall, the Arthur Head Pilots Cottages, etc. It’s a dilemma indeed and I wonder what the solution will be.

Join the public forum on the 23rd at Tannock Hall,  corner of Croke and Cliff this Tuesday.  I hope it will be a fair and balanced democratic debate.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE NOTRE DAME STUDENT’S RIDE FOR CHARITY

A first-year Education student from the Fremantle University of Notre Dame will swap his text books for pedal power in an attempt to ride more than 3400km across the country for charity.

Alexander Watling says he is prepared to tackle some of the most arduous terrain and challenging weather conditions on his 30 day journey from Perth to Melbourne along the southern coast of Australia. Inspired by the cousin of a close friend who is receiving treatment for Neuroblastoma, the third most common type of childhood cancer, Mr Watling is hoping to raise more than $3000 for the Kids Cancer Project – an Australian charity dedicated on finding cures for childhood cancer.

The route he will take begins at Perth’s iconic Bell Tower. From there he will proceed to the Wheatbelt town of Northam, along the Great Eastern Highway to Coolgardie, then further south to Norseman, before heading across the Nullabor. Once arriving at Lucky Bay in South Australia, Mr Watling will catch a ferry across the Spencer Gulf to Adelaide, before completing the final leg to Melbourne’s Federation Square.

In preparation for his departure on 23 June, Mr Watling is riding approximately 60km daily and, at the same time, quelling some of the anxieties he has about the journey ahead.

His mother, who is flying across to Melbourne from the United Kingdom, and friends are expected to greet him at the finish line.

“My main motivation for undertaking this ride is to raise money for the Kids Cancer Project that can go towards new research and other programs which could prevent the children of tomorrow from contracting this terrible disease,” Mr Watling said.

“I’m lucky enough to have never had to fight a severe disease. However, there are children in the community who may not ever get to live out some of their dreams due to their ongoing battles with illness.

“I’ve very excited at the opportunity to experience something totally unique where I can interact with different physical and cultural environments, while raising money for a wonderful charity at the same time.”

 

MOSMAN PARK ECO FAIR

DEBATING FAITH AT FREO NOTRE DAME UNIVERSITY

Here a flyer from our friends at Fremantle Notre Dame University on a lecture about faith.