MELBOURNE CUP AT CLANCY’S

Feel like doing something in Fremantle on Melbourne Cup Day? Why not go to Clancy’s Fish Pub and watch the horses on the big screens there inside and outside.

The most exciting part is the Fried Mice competition after the races where local heroes eat hot fried chillies filled with cream cheese. It’s a great excuse to drink more cold beer afterwards.

There are sweeps and hobby horse races and live music. Doors open at 10 am and the seafood platters are great!

FREO ECOBURBIA AND THE TEA PARTY

ECOBURBIA PRESENTS! ASTROTURF WARS

Friday November 4. 7.30 pm.
The Tea Party movement has taken American politics by storm. But is this truly a populist uprising or one of the greatest feats of propaganda ever seen? Australian filmmaker Taki Oldham sets out to answer this question, finding that behind the movement’s rhetoric of “freedom” versus “socialism” lies a highly co-ordinated network of shadow groups, funded by the likes of billionaire ideologues Charles and David Koch. Are the tea party protesters really just pawns in a plan to replace government with a privatised America?

This movie will be held at Ecoburbia – 16 Livingstone Street in Beaconsfield. We will be inside MORTUNG – our community space. There are some dining chairs available but feel free to bring a folding chair if you are more comfy – or some pillows for the floor. The space is not heated so dress appropriately.

We will not be sharing food over winter, but coffee and tea will be available, and we encourage you to stay and have a debrief after the movie. The movie will start at 7.30 pm

Please walk or come by bike. If you have to drive please park at the Primary School on Hale Road, not on Beard Street. See you at Ecoburbia!

BLUEPRINT FOR INFILL NEEDED IN FREMANTLE

The building boom in Fremantle is good for our city I believe but it also requires long-term strategic planning and a blueprint for where in Fremantle infill should be considered in the next 25 years.

Just doing small planning scheme amendments for a few streets and masterplans for other areas is not good city planning, so the City of Fremantle should do a comprehensive study on where the appropriate locations for medium and high density in Fremantle are.

Developers, investors and home owners should be able to access City of Fremantle information that will show them that a certain street or suburb is earmarked for higher density so they don’t get a nasty shock surprise just after they have purchased property that a six-storey building or even higher could be built next to their two- storey home(s).

It would also assist the Public Transport Authority and other State Government agencies to plan ahead instead of the slow reactive planning that is happening too often.

While it is good to have masterplans for specific areas I believe it is essential to have an infill masterplan blueprint for the entire city, as only that is well-considered and detailed long-term planning.

Fremantle has many good potential development areas just outside the CBD that need to be considered for residential development, because inner city living has become unaffordable for many people. A tiny new one-bedroom apartment in the city centre starts at half a million dollars, so hopefully locations a fifteen-minute bike ride away from the CBD will be cheaper and more affordable to people on lower incomes.

Accommodation for students, artists, pensioners, low-wage earners, etc. need to be part of the residential mix in Fremantle or we might develop into a yuppy city for the well-off only. That would not be very Freo at all!

Roel Loopers

FREO THE FESTIVAL CITY

 

While wandering around the Little Italy by the Sea event at Bathers Beach on Sunday I took an interesting long lens photo of Arthur Head and one of the Fishing Boat Harbour.

It was disappointing to see all the cars and vans of participants parked at the Italian festival and also many unsafe power cords all over the place without mats on top or even stuck down with gaffer tape. That is always a big no-no for market operators and needs to be addressed if they put up the event again next year. Where was the City’s safety officer to check it out?

The vehicles are very unsightly and power cords are dangerous at a family event!

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE BUILDING THE FUTURE

 

On Thursday morning Premier Colin Barnett will officially open the renovated Warders Cottages in Fremantle’s Henderson Street after the historic buildings were vacant and neglected for many years.

It is fantastic to also see the former Gunners Cottages at Cantonment Hill renovated and occupied by Defence personnel as they too had been empty and neglected for far too long.

It is a very welcome sight indeed to see the old cottages back in their old glory, but it has been a long battle. The Fremantle Society, MLA Simone McGurk, former MP Melissa Parke and the City of Fremantle all deserve credit for keeping the pressure on state and federal governments to get the cottages renovated and occupied again.

The restoration of the heritage cottages is an indication of the start of the renaissance of Fremantle with an unprecedented building boom in our city.

The Heirloom by Match apartment building will open in December, and opposite from it work on the huge Defence Housing residential building complex will commence early next year. Just down the road from there next to St Patrick’s and the Australia Hotel another apartment building will be erected soon, opposite the new one that opened last year on Queen Victoria Street.

The former Energy Museum is also going to be developed for residential and hospitality, the Hilton Doubletree hotel building down the road from there in Adelaide Street will start in the second quarter of next year, and there are plans for a residential building at the former Spotlight site, and also huge plans for the Woolstores shopping centre site at Cantonment Street.

The Kings Square project appears back on track with Sirona Capital just finalising the lease arrangements with the State Government, so with some luck building there will also start next year. There are also plans for a tourist accommodation building at the Mills records site.

The Atwell Arcade is near completion and so are the Quest Hotel and another residential building in Pakenham Street, while the MSC has moved into the new building at Cliff Street and the former Elders building. A few metres from there Notre Dame University has plans for a new building on the corner of High Street.

There are plans for the development of the Fremantle Oval precinct, once the City of Fremantle can boot out the annoyingly greedy Fremantle Dockers, and in South Fremantle new apartments built by Match will go up opposite the Local Hotel. An awkward-looking apartment building has also been erected on the corner of Douro Road and Hulbert Street.

The Be. tourist motel at Bathers Bay is also growing with new apartments added to it.

The big development players in town are Silverleaf, Match and Sirona Capital.

I am delighted that there is so much and substantial development in Fremantle that will make a positive difference to our city. It will no doubt bring a resurgence in new retailers also opening up shop in Fremantle in the near future, but I am frustrated and disappointed about the lack of class and creativity of most buildings proposed for our character city.

Have I overlooked other major development happening or planned in Freo? Tell me what I have forgotten to mention!

Roel Loopers

BLESSING OF FLEET MULTICULTURAL SHOWCASE

 

The traditional and very lovely Blessing of the Fleet was held in Fremantle again today, so don’t get a fright when the fireworks go off at  4pm and 8pm today.

The Blessing was held for the first time in Freo in 1948, the year I was born, so it is pretty old. Unlike me though it is still vibrant with many young people joining in the parade to the Fishing Boat Harbour, where they board the fishing boats for a ride through the harbour.

I love the tradition of the blessing as it has become so much more than a religious event and is now a true showcase of Freo’s fantastic multiculturalism.

Roel Loopers

GREAT OPENING OF JINA LEE SHOW AT J SHED

I rarely post photos of exhibition openings but will make an exception for the Stone Dreaming show by Jina Lee at the Greg James Sculpture Gallery in J Shed at Bathers Beach because this is a very special location and Jina is a very special person and outstanding artist.

Last night showed what a perfect space this is for art exhibitions and other art related events and that a small cafe on the side could well attract a lot of people.

Let’s hope the City of Fremantle and Sunset Events see the light and realise this is not an appropriate location for a tavern and outdoor music venue, as the WAPC has already ruled.

An art related community space is perfect and Greg James announced he has just secured an exhibition in November with the women who won this year’s Australian Photography Portrait Prize.

Roel Loopers

MOLTO BENE LITTLE ITALY BY THE SEA

 

What a shame that the Little Italy by the Sea event at Bathers Beach had to put up with very strong winds and rain on Saturday, but it is on today again from 12 noon till 10 pm, so go and enjoy some Italian culture and food.

The Blessing of the Fleet is also at 2 pm and will come past there and there are fireworks at 8 pm, so bring the family!

The spaghetti eating competition was very funny and good to see that great butcher Vince Gareffa also there selling yummy porchetta-baby pig.

Roel Loopers

STUNNING STONE ART BY JINA LEE

Here some impressions of the stunning stone sculptures by my friend Jina Lee. Her show opens at 5 today at the Greg James Sculpture Gallery at J Shed on Bathers Beach. Enter from Fleet Street or through the Whalers Tunnel.

Roel Loopers

RAIN CAME BACK TO FREMANTLE

 

There were some very black clouds over Fremantle Port early this morning and there have been a few good showers already, so now hoping it will clear up for the Little Italy by the Sea festival that starts at midday at Bathers Beach today.

I took this photo at 6.30 am.

Roel Loopers