FREMANTLE HERALD CELEBRATES 30 YEARS
Congratulations to Fremantle Herald owner Andrew Smith and all the staff to the 30th birthday of our own iconic Freo rag.
The Chook is no doubt an institution in our port city and has done itself proud with many exclusives and even more controversial articles over the three decades.
It takes a lot of effort and commitment to publish a community newspaper, especially during the hard times when the advertising dollars dry up significantly, but Smith and his team just kept going.
I too have fond memories standing in for the Chook photographers when they went on holidays or were sick.
All of us in Fremantle need to realise that the Herald can only survive if it gets the advertising support it needs, and we also need to be aware what a great loss it would be for Freo if the Chook were no longer published.
Thanks Andrew, Steve and all the great people who make the Fremantle Herald what it is!
Roel Loopers
FREMANTLE IS MAGNETIC FOR DEVELOPERS
There is a very good article about Fremantle by Kim Macdonald in the WestBusiness Insider magazine of the West Australian newspapers.
The front cover headline is Freo, The Billionaires&The Future with photos of Andrew Forrest and Angela Bennett.
The five-page article mentions that there is a lot of interest for investment and development in Fremantle by some of the biggest players in Western Australia, such as Bennett, Forrest, Adrian Fini, Sirona Capital, Silverleaf Investments, etc.
Sirona Capital’s Matthew McNeilly is quoted as saying that there is a lot of love for Fremantle….because you cannot find another Fremantle anywhere else in Australia.
Angela Bennett’s son Todd is the executive director of AMB Capital that wants to do a major development in the Fishing Boat Harbour south of Little Creatures, with residential and short-stay accommodation, retail, food, etc.
Twiggy Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation owns the Spicers site on the corner of William Street and the Henderson Street mall and they are doing a feasibility on developing that into a lifestyle boutique hotel, while the Fini Group wants to develop the Italian Club site, south of the Esplanade, into apartments, a boutique hotel and wellness centre.
Silverleaf Investments is busy developing the Mannings Building, is close to starting the Woolstores hotel development, and also have approved plans for the former Police&Justice complex between Parry and Henderson streets.
Silverleaf’s Gerard O’Brien told WestBusiness that Fremantle is magnetic. Perth wants the CBD Fremantle has got.
It is really good to see the West Australian acknowledging the huge and positive transformation Fremantle is going through. It is a shame though to hear from a Freo newsagent that the magazine was not inserted in the newspapers he got on Thursday, so many people who asked for it were disappointed it was not available.
Roel Loopers
MORE WEST AUSTRALIAN ATTACKS ON FREMANTLE MAYOR
Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt is being attacked again by columnist Paul Murray in today’s West Australian in regard to the City of Fremantle’s claim of carbon neutrality.
While I believe it is unfair to attack the Mayor instead of all the elected members who make decisions for Fremantle, there are valid points in Murray’s column and the City of Fremantle needs to do much better in responding to them.
Here on Freo’s View Murdoch University master student of sustainability and renewable energy Martin Lee has asked pertinent questions, which Brad Pettitt promised to respond to in detail, but he has now decided he won’t be doing that and leave Lee’s questions unanswered. That is not good transparency and public relations.
Murray’s attack on what Brad Pettitt earns should be part of a much bigger picture where some local council CEOs and directors earn as much or more as the Premier of Western Australia. That is ridiculous. Are Mayors also overpaid when they are part of a team of elected members and the others receive less than $40,000 a year while the Freo Mayor gets around $ 160,000? That is something the Minister for Local Government might want to look at.
But transparency is the important issue here and that reminds me that some weeks ago the convenor of the South Fremantle Precinct asked the City of Fremantle for a copy of the consultant engineer’s report on the bad state of repair of the former Civic Centre. This report was quoted on many times as the reason why it was essential for Fremantle to demolish the old building and build a new one at Kings Square, but convenor Sean Hefferon was told that the consultant report could not be found. That is unacceptable!
If the report exists is must have been added as an attachment to council and committee meetings and all elected members must have received one, so surely the report must have been archived. All reports should be kept for future audits, for transparency, accountability and integrity, so please make it public and available CoF.
So things are not going well in the PR stakes for Fremantle, and the entire Council and administration is to blame for that. It is not right that the other elected members and CEO Phil StJohn are happy for the Mayor to receive all the criticism while they remain silent.
Roel Loopers
FREMANTLE GAZETTE CHANGES PUBLICATION DAY
It has gone largely unnoticed that the publication day for the Fremantle Gazette has changed from Tuesdays to Thursdays.
The Fremantle Herald’s publication day is Saturdays but the distribution of that community paper starts already early on Friday mornings.
Roel Loopers
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ENJOYING SUNNY NEWS
While the forecast is for a very pleasant week with temperatures in the mid twenties, the mornings are still very crisp.
This gentleman found a sunny spot in the Fremantle High Street mall this morning to read the news.
It helps to feel warmed by the sun when reading all the nastiness that happens in the world.
Roel Loopers
PETER GRESTE AT FREO NOTRE DAME ON FAKE NEWS AND FALSE HISTORY
Renowned Australian journalist Peter Greste, who was a political prisoner in Egypt for a considerable time, will be the keynote speaker at Notre Dame University during this year’s Fremantle Heritage Festival.
Fake News and False History: The use and abuse of truth and lies will be the topic of Greste’s talk in Tannock Hall in Cliff Street.
The free event is on May 17 at 6pm and registrations are required at http://www.eventbrite.com.au
Roel Loopers
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