NELLIE CRAWFORD SHOW AT GALLOWS

Fremantle artist Nellie Crawford is having her latest solo show at Gallows Gallery in Glyde Street, Mosman Park from August 20 to September 13.

You can also view the show on line: http://www.gallowsgallery.com

Roel Loopers

WILL FREO GET A CATALPA HOTEL?

 

 

I hear the Fremantle Warders cottages boutique hotel and tavern is coming along very well, with the opening estimated to be in October this year.

The name for the venue is still a secret, but I understand it will be that of a ship, similar to the owners’ other venue the Hougoumont hotel.

Since the venue is close to Fremantle Prison my guess is that it might be named the Catalpa Hotel.

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GRUMPY RAIN DROP ART

 

 

Rain drop art at Grumpy Sailor this morning.

 

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AMAZING PIPE LAYING VESSEL IN FREMANTLE PORT

 

 

A very unusual sight in Fremantle Port this morning with the pipe laying vessel North Ocean 105 sticking out at Victoria Quay. The vessels is capable of laying pipes in 10,000 feet of water.

While there the 334 metre-long container ship E.R. Tokyo was leaving and when I walked back from the pipe laying vessel the 300 metre-long CMA CGM Loire entered the harbour.

I LOVE Freo’s working port!

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NORTH FREO FARM BIRTHDAY PARTY

 

 

The North Fremantle Social Farm will be celebrating its first birthday this Saturday with a fundraising party.

It will be on from 3pm on Saturday August 22, so get your tickets before they sell out.

North Freo Social Farm
1st Birthday Party Fundraiser 3pm 22nd August 2020

– Share salads and dishes made from farm veggies
– Sausages and haloumi and fresh bread
– Glass of wine or beer on arrival – thanks to support from Old Bridge Cellars
– Cakes and desserts
– Kids activities
– Live entertainment
– Good times

Please BYO
– Your own glasses and cutlery
– Chair if you wish
– Drinks

Tickets
– Kids and under 18 – Free
– Individual Adult – $35
– Group of 4 Adults – $105

Book your tickets here:
https://www.northfreosocialfarm.org/becomeafarmer

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TRAFFIC BRIDGE PROCESS CROSSING THE COMMUNITY OUT

 

In a sign that the community consultation about the new Fremantle Traffic Bridge is just going to be a token gesture the State Government has already started the tender process for the design, well before the Fremantle community has expressed its opinion.

It has already been made clear by Main Roads that the community will be presented with one single option only about the location of the new bridge and that the old heritage-listed bridge will be demolished, with only 19 metres of it left at Beach Street.

Below some of the media release by Planning Minister Rita Saffioti:

Proposals to develop, design and construct a new Swan River Crossing in Fremantle are officially being sought from industry.

 The $230 million, jointly funded project will replace the deteriorated Fremantle Traffic Bridge with two new crossings that will meet future needs for road, rail, walking, cycling and boating.

 Construction is expected to start by late 2021 and will support 1,400 jobs over the life of the project.

 Federal Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge said the Morrison Government is providing $115 million towards the replacement of the existing Fremantle Traffic Bridge.

 “Fremantle continues to be a bustling hub and we brought forward funds so construction on this project could kick off sooner.”

 Western Australian Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the project was one of a number of major Western Australian transport projects to have procurement fast-tracked.

 “Procurement for the project has been brought forward six months earlier than initially scheduled, to support the WA economy and local jobs during the road out of COVID-19,” Ms Saffioti said.

 “Community consultation is now underway and will inform the project’s development and design to ensure we reach the best possible outcome for this significant infrastructure in Fremantle.

 “The project is being reviewed by the independent State Design Review Panel and heritage and architectural leads will form part of the alliance contract, which is anticipated to be awarded in early 2021.

 “This project will also include new and improved pedestrian and cyclist’s links boosting our Principal Shared Path network, linking Fremantle to the Perth CBD.”

State Member for Fremantle Simone McGurk said the new bridge is a great opportunity to replace the 80-year-old structure with something that appeals to the community.

 “We recognise the importance of this project to the Fremantle locals, so facilitating informed and meaningful community input on the new structure is essential.

 “A number of community sessions will be rolled out in coming weeks and I encourage all interested locals to attend and have their say.”

 Main Roads is seeking an alliance contract, which will include a focus on heritage and architectural feedback received through the ongoing community consultation process.

 The $230 million project is jointly funded by the Australian and Western Australian Governments, which have committed $115 million each.

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INVISIBLE BOYS FOR THE BIG SCREEN

 

 

Great news for new author Holden Sheppard and his first book Invisible Boys, published by Fremantle Press!

The most recent winner of the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award, Holden Sheppard’s novel Invisible Boys, is bound for the big screen.

The film and television rights to the novel were optioned by Australian director Nicholas Verso and producer Tania Chambers this week.

The City of Fremantle Hungerford Award, one of WA’s most prestigious literary awards, is presented to an emerging West Australian writer for their first full-length, unpublished work of fiction or narrative non-fiction.

The winner of the biennial prize receives a $15,000 cash prize and a publishing contract with Fremantle Press.

Since winning the City of Fremantle Hungerford Award in 2018 Invisible Boys has gone on to win the 2019 Kathleen Mitchell Award and the 2019 Western Australian Premier’s Award for an Emerging Writer, and was shortlisted for a 2020 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award and the Readings Prize.

Author Holden Sheppard said he was convinced winning the Hungerford Award played a huge role in the success of Invisible Boys.

“The Hungerford’s effect on a book is like plugging an electric guitar into an amp: you play the same notes, but it’s louder and gets heard by more people,” he said.

“Having a debut novel that is already an award-winner upon release makes industry people and readers sit up and take notice, so it’s been a boon and I am very grateful for what winning this award has done for my career.”

Director Nicholas Verso’s work includes the BAFTA and Emmy award-winning series Nowhere Boys for Matchbox Pictures, ABC and NBC Universal, and the feature film Boys in the Trees, which premiered at the seventy-third Venice International Film Festival before screening at festivals worldwide and selling to Netflix and Stan.

He also won an Australian Directors’ Guild Award last year for his work directing Grace Beside Me for the ABC and NITV.

Tania Chambers is the producer and managing director of Feisty Dame Productions and was previously the Chief Executive of Screen NSW and Screenwest.

She has produced the feature films Kill Me Three Times, which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, Busan International Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival and Melbourne International Film Festival, and A Few Less Men, as well as the TV series Itch, which recently sold to the BBC.

The winner of the 2020 City of Fremantle Hungerford Award will be announced in October.

 

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HOW TO CREATE MORE LIVABLE CITIES

 

There are two interesting opinion pieces in the West Australian today that are well worth reading. They are about the City of Perth, but very relevant to the City of Fremantle as well.

Ben Harvey writes about the challenges of dealing with homeless people and rightly points out that homelessness is not a crime. He also mentions that no matter how many cops one puts on the streets it is impossible to prevent crime and antisocial behaviour from happening.

Move-on notices are useless because people without a home have nowhere to go, so they ‘move-on’ somewhere else in the city. As Ben Harvey write ‘It’s complicated.’

What we need in Fremantle, Perth and elsewhere is many more outreach workers, a larger support system for those in need and that includes ongoing support when homes can be found for them.

Marion Fulker, the CEO of Committee for Perth writes about how we can make our cities more attractive, so that people return to them for their shopping and leisure and points out that it is essential to have more people living in our inner cities, instead of on the outskirts-she calls shoulders-of them. Something Fremantle Council has been very keen on and partly achieved with more apartment buildings constructed in the CBD over the last few years.

Fulker mentions that the retail environment has changed a lot, with on-line shopping and larger suburban shopping centres, which changed the attraction of the traditional high street inner city shopping for many. That is neither unique to Perth or Fremantle, but an international reality.

How do we achieve the critical mass needed to make cities successful and how much of that should be left to private developers? The reality is that most developers are not creating public realm. They want to build big apartment blocks without providing new public spaces, and I believe that mindset has to change.

Many more people on our streets 24/7 will provide a more secure environment, so CBDs have to cater for more than just office workers. The mix of residential and tourist accommodation is essential to have a vibrant city where one feels comfortable to walk through any time of the day and night.

Too many people express they no longer come into Fremantle and Perth because they no longer feel safe, and the many vacant shops don’t make for a great ambience either.

These are serious challenges that local governments alone won’t be able to find solutions for. It is therefor essential that the state and local governments collaborate much more and better to create cities people want to live in, visit and work in. To get that mix right will make a significant difference.

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THE FUTURE OF FREMANTLE OVAL

 

Fremantle Council’s Strategic Planning and Transport Committee will be looking at an update for the City’s Fremantle Oval Precinct Masterplan, so below a few details of it.

The announcement this week by the WA State Government that the new police station will be built on the former Stan Reilly site next to Fremantle Oval will have an impact on the masterplan.

Key Principles

Given the complexities of the site (as well as the neighbouring hospital site) it is unlikely that a single masterplan can be produced in the near future that ‘fixes’ all issues and establishes a clear process for funding and delivery. In order to assist with the future project planning as well as establishing the priorities for the precinct, a Key Principles Diagram has been developed as a first step. In summary, the key elements are:

0. 0. 1. Upgrade the Fremantle Oval for football.
      2. Improve pedestrian entry areas/axis points.
      3. Improve pedestrian/cycling permeability.
      4. Create clear, new major access points into precinct.
      5. Protect and improve the heritage setting of the Fremantle Prison.
      6. Concentrate future potential development at south end.
      7. Primary land uses-with football as the primary focus, other mainland uses which will be encouraged within the precinct include residential, sports administration, community/cultural and public car-parking.

The Key Principles Diagram has drawn extensively from an analysis and understanding of place, in particular, the historical evolution of the precinct.

Next Steps

Following the adoption of high-level key principles, the next phase will be the preparation of urban design / development scenarios that explore a range of potential spatial options that respond to key principles. The Scenarios will focus on the following elements:

Football – PublicOpen Space

• Opportunities and constraints of upgrading the oval in order to host AFL women games, pre-season AFL games, as well as night TV broadcast of football.

• Opportunities and constraints of accommodating two football clubs.

• Finalising size, orientation and location of oval to enable other facilities planning and funding opportunities to advance.

• Retaining oval–and surrounding open space-as a public open space with amenities to support a range of community uses, events and activities.

• Exploring options for improving the public realm-amenities, movement options, servicing requirements, landscaping – and interfaces between the oval/ football and the other uses and destinations within or in close proximity to the precinct such as Fremantle Prison.

• Carpark scenarios with short/long term arrangements.

• Future uses within the precinct in consideration of the City’s strategic directions.

• Future built form development–height and building mass- around the oval and the rest of the precinct in consideration of the Fremantle Prison buffer zone.

The scenarios would be presented back to council to enable discussion around the pros and cons of various approaches. The purpose of the scenarios would not be about selecting a fixed masterplan, but to explore options and stimulate a conversation with stakeholders and the community.

Roel Loopers

 

FRIDA KAHLO MURAL IN NORTH FREMANTLE

 

 

There is another large colourful art mural in Fremantle, this time at PLATA BONITO on Stirling Highway in North Fremantle.

Artist Susan Respinga created the work around a portrait of famous artist Frida Kahlo on the wall of the Mexican jewellery and homewares shop.

It looks great and a whole lot better than the beer advertisement mural on the Bannister Street wall of Camera House.

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