KEEPING AN EYE ON POP-UP BARS

 

The City of Fremantle is well advised to consider the opinion of publican Jon Sainken about pop-up bars.

Sainken, who is a director of Club Bayview in Claremont and of the Mindarie Marina and Leederville hotels has warned that public safety is at risk in pop-up bars because of low safety standards, not having the required number of exits and fire equipment. I add toilets to that as well.

At present we have a pop-up bar at the Number One unit at J Shed on Bathers Beach, with live music on weekends in the space leased from the City of Fremantle by Sunset Events, that greatly inconveniences neighbouring artists.

The operator has told patrons that he has the space for two years, but no additional toilets have been installed and the public toilets at Arthur Head close at 7pm.

Are there sufficient fire extinguishers in the small bar?

I also noticed people illegally drinking on the A Class reserve and parking there as well and that needs to be more strictly monitored by Fremantle City officers, as the area is frequented by tourists.

Another pop-up is returning for a month with The Dock re-opening in B Shed at Victoria Quay.

Roel Loopers

WEST AUSTRALIAN FAKE NEWS ABOUT FREO PUBS

 

Although the City of Fremantle put out a media release yesterday correcting the non-factual report in the West Australian about Fremantle Council wanting to introduce non-alcohol sections in pubs, the newspaper continues today spreading the fake news.

Inside Cover states on page 2 that this needs to be monitored, while the letters to the editors page published a letter by a Leeming man who blames the lefty, greeny, loopy Freo council for the nonsense.

Fact is that Fremantle Council, at the initiative of Deputy Mayor Ingrid Waltham, has asked officers to investigate how Freo City can ensure that there won’t be too many taverns in the CBD, after the applications for new taverns at the Warders Cottages hotel, the Police and Justice complex, both in Henderson Street, the Manning building and the Woolstores shopping centre development.

This is actually not all that new as Fremantle Council also looked at more diversity in shopping a few years ago and how it could control more cafes opening.

So to set the facts straight, there are no plans for restricted non-alcohol areas in pubs in Fremantle, but Council does not want the CBD to just be a boozers’ paradise that will impact on the family amenity and public safety.

It is time the West Australian corrected the nonsense they published!

 

Roel Loopers

 

HOW MANY MORE TAVERNS FOR FREMANTLE?

 

I am not the only one concerned with the high number of planning applications for the Fremantle CBD which include taverns.

City of Fremantle Councillor and Deputy Mayor Ingrid Waltham will put following motion to full council on Wednesday:

NOTICE OF MOTION MOVED: Cr Ingrid Waltham

Council request that the administration prepare a draft Local Planning Policy to provide guidance in the assessment of planning applications involving premises proposed to be licensed as Tavern or Hotel within the City Centre zone. This policy shall not address issues ordinarily dealt with through the Liquor Licensing process but shall consider relevant planning issues and specifically include consideration of the proportion of the licensed area to the site area occupied by other proposed uses, with a view to ensuring new proposals include an appropriate mix of complementary land uses.

 

One tavern was just recommended by the CoF Planning Committee for JDAP approval for the Warders Cottages hotel, another tavern is planned for the Police and Justice complex just meters away also in Henderson Street, and just down the road from there in William Street a micro-brewery and tavern is proposed in the Mannings Building.

Add to that another tavern proposal for the Woolstores shopping centre development, plus a large licensed music venue at the Drillhall(former Fly by Night) and one has to wonder how many taverns the Freo CBD can handle before we become the Booze Bash destination in the metro area.

Can Fremantle really cope with another 2000-25000 inebriated people roaming the streets on weekends, and who will pay for the street cleaning in front of all those licensed premises?

Have a look at the mess on Saturday and Sunday mornings along the Cappuccino Strip, that gets hosed clean early those mornings and rubbish swept up from the footpaths and road.

Roel Loopers

PUB GLUT A WORRY FOR FREMANTLE

 

Recent development applications for the City of Fremantle CBD all include alcohol outlets, so Fremantle Council should be very aware of that and not permit too many watering holes in the inner city, as it is contrary to the alcohol policy they implemented three years ago.

There is a tavern proposed in the plans for the Woolstores shopping centre site, a micro-brewery and tavern for the Mannings Building development, a tavern planned for the former Henderson Street Courthouse and a pub for the former Energy Museum development.

The CBD already has the Australia Hotel, Clancy’s, the National, Orient, Newport, Sail&Anchor, Norfolk, the Federal, Little Creatures, Bathers Beach House, the Monk, plus the bars of the Esplanade Hotel.

Top that off with nightclubs and the small bars that have popped up and Freo has more than enough to offer as far as the service of alcohol is concerned. And don’t forget that Sunset Events will be opening a tavern at J Shed and the Drillhall as well.

Pubs in Fremantle survive because of good weekend trade, but are not doing all that well during weekdays, so a significant increase in competition and new taverns opening might jeopardise their future.

No need to be a wowser about this, but we need to be very careful that Fremantle will not become a copy of Northbridge, that struggled for a very long time to get rid of its reputation for drunkenness, violence and anti-social behaviour. We have quite a bit of that already in our port city.

New laws coming before State Parliament will also allow the service of alcohol, without having to order a meal, in restaurants which serve fewer than 120 customers, so that will include many Freo hospitality outlets

Fremantle Council needs to put a ceiling on how many pubs it will allow in the inner city, to make sure there is a diversity on offer and not just a glut of large licensed premises.

Roel Loopers

ALDI SOUTH FREO BOTTLESHOP

 

 

The City of Fremantle’s Planning Committee will this evening deliberate if it will grant ALDI approval to change the use from shop to liquor shop in their South Fremantle shopping centre premises.

If Fremantle Council approves the application it would mean that three bottle shops would operate from the shopping centre on the corner of Douro and Hampton roads, as Liquorland and Dan Murphy’s already got shops there.

 

Roel Loopers

FREO PUB DEATH NO BIG DEAL?

 

 

We live in strange times, where respect for fellow humans and property are often just a second thought, if at all.

I was quite surprised to see it is business as usual at the Fremantle Sail&Anchor pub this Sunday, after a young man fell from their balcony last evening at 8.30 and died in Fiona Stanley Hospital last night.

I am not blaming anyone for the accident, but I wonder why the Sail&Anchor does not show more respect for the dead man and his family by closing the pub for a day.

 

Roel Loopers

 

MAN FALLS FROM SAIL&ANCHOR BALCONY

 

A West Perth man died in hospital last night after falling from a balcony at the Fremantle Sail&Anchor pub.

He fell through the plastic weather protection that surrounds the first floor verandah to the ground of South Terrace around 8.30 pm.

People who were out and about in Fremantle last night were shocked that the Sail&Anchor remained open after the accident. Many believed it should have closed after the incident.

 

Roel Loopers

BEACH STREET KIOSK TAVERN

 

The owners of the KIOSK at Fremantle Beach Street, opposite the East Street Jetty, can thank their good luck that Fremantle Council did not sign off on handing over the former DADAA building next door to become the new location for the Aboriginal Cultural Centre.

I doubt that under those circumstances the City of Fremantle would have agreed to change the popular cafe from cafe to tavern, as they requested, and will be debated at the FPOL Committee this Wednesday.

The KIOSK wants to expand their business and have applied for a variation in license from 240 sqm to approximately 418 sqm, and they want to apply for a tavern liquor license to accommodate small functions and groups that is up to now restricted to table service.

The City of Fremantle is at present liaising with Aboriginal elders and groups to find out what they want to achieve with a cultural centre and then find an appropriate building in Freo for our Noongar friends.

Roel Loopers

SUNSET EVENTS J SHED TAVERN SAGA CONTINUES

 

 

New plans by Sunset Events for a tavern at J Shed on historic Arthur Head are out for public comment for the next two weeks, so make sure to view them and send in your submissions to the City of Fremantle.

The proposal is for a 400 patron tavern, but plans for a micro brewery and coffee roastery appear to have been scrapped, and there is no application for ticketed music events in the tavern. I don’t believe that means Sunset Events can’t hold concerts in the tavern which patrons might have to pay for, as is sometimes the case at Clancy’s, for example.

Part of the plans look quite good. The small timber deck with a pergola to the south is nice, and if that was all for a 150 patron cafe and small bar I would support the proposal.

But Sunset Events also want to occupy a huge area of the A Class Reserve and put two units (seacontainers?) on for an outdoor kitchen, a bar, and also portable toilets clad in timber at the western side of the reserve.

They will also cut off the connectivity between Victoria Quay and the Fishing Boat Harbour, which will mean that tourists no longer will be able to access the art galleries at units 2, 3 and 4 from the south. They would have to walk all the way around, to nearly the South Mole and backtrack to those studios and that is highly unlikely to happen to the detriment of those businesses.

In consideration for the present artists Ross Potter, Ellen McCarthy, Peter Zuvela, Jenny Dawson, Greg James, Janet Nixon, Jina Lee, Lesley Barrett, and the fact that the WA Planning Commission has already ruled that a tavern is not appropriate use for the A Class Reserve, I am opposing the proposal and hope that Fremantle Council will recommend to the WAPC to reject this proposal also.

Roel Loopers

SMALL BAR PROTEST NOT ABOUT PATIENTS

 

There appears to be a bit more to the small bar protest story in Fremantle’s High Street than the initial newspaper report this morning revealed.

This is not just the case of a psychiatrist wanting to protect his patients who have drug, alcohol and suicide issues, but much more about protecting his own patch. It’s classic not in my backyard stuff.

It turns out the good doctor actually lives at the premises and works from home next to the proposed bar and he clearly does not want his evening peace disturbed.

The bar proponents tell me it will just be a tiny 50-patron bar in the cellar with table service and no outdoor area.

Living in the inner city means one has to compromise and realise there will be bars and pubs and entertainment, and a tiny bar operated by responsible operators won’t create anti-social havoc in the West End that is in dire need of  night-time activation.

To put a mental health clinic in an entertainment area is puzzling.

Roel Loopers