FREMANTLE’S UNLAWFUL CLOSURE OF PEDESTRIAN ACCESS

 

 

On March 10 this year the WA Statutory Planning Committee ruled for the second time that it does not support the closure of the PAW-Pedestrian Access Way between Swanbourne Street and Kellow Place in Fremantle, but nearly three months after the ruling the gates are still locked and access denied to use the PAW.

This has been a long saga with the first 12-months trial closure starting in April 2016. Permanent closure was then endorsed by Fremantle Council, although there was strong opposition from local residents who argued that the claims of criminal behaviour were not true, and police records showed there was no increased crime in the area.

The WASPC refused the City permission to close the PAW permanently, but Council then directed officers to negotiate with the WASPC to see if they would be willing to change their ruling. That was rejected on March 10 this year, so why is the PAW still closed?

To be fair, residents received a letter from the City of Fremantle that because of Covid-19 the removal of the gates would be delayed, but surely that should not take a quarter of a year. That is unacceptable!

Open the PAW immediately, Freo City. It is not a big job and can be done in a few hours.

 

Roel Loopers

HIGHWAY TO CAR FREE HEAVEN

 

 

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt writes on his blog that the Highway to Hell event, where the entire Canning Highway was closed off to traffic from 4pm to late at night on Sunday, shows what potential there would be for place making if Perth was not such a car dependent city.

It was indeed fantastic to see thousands of people walking and cycling along Canning Highway, and I fondly remember the car free Sundays we had in Germany during the global oil crisis, where Autobahns became cycle ways and events were organised. Yes, those good old days, hey!

Closing parts of the city is always going to be a challenge and will receive criticism and praise, as it will inconvenience those who live and work there, and it requires a lot of, not very forthcoming, flexibility from the Public Transport Authority.

There are still Fremantle people who would like to see the High Street mall reopened to  traffic, and presumably also let cars run through the centre of Kings Square at the High Street reserve.

We had car free trials on the Cappuccino Strip on Sundays, but according to the City of Fremantle traders in the CBD did not support that. The trials were in my opinion not that good though, as they did not engage in real place making, and instead created a huge alfresco area for the traders on the strip, and the ugliness of far too much pine used, to make those alfresco spaces.

The Highway to Hell was a great creative, big thinking, idea that worked really well, but there are plenty of people who complain about it. A world where we all agree is as utopian as a car free world.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE ALFRESCO NEEDS MORE CONSIDERATION

 

 

Here comes my first ‘whinge’ of the new decade. Fremantle cafe, bar and restaurant operators and retailers need to be more considerate when putting tables and chairs, or A-frames, on the footpaths and realise they are sometimes creating an inconvenience.

The MONK on the Cappuccino Strip has put two new high bar benches out for patrons, but they are too close to the steps of the venue, and the gap is so narrow that it is a nuisance for people with prams, and near impossible to get through for people in wheelchairs and gophers, or mothers with a double pram.

A -frames are also often thoughtlessly put on the pavement and that makes it difficult for vision-impaired people to navigate their way through Fremantle.

A little consideration goes a long way!

Roel Loopers

SHOULD FREO HAVE ARTY PEDESTRIAN CROSSINGS?

 

 

Fremantle has already implemented some arty road painting to slow traffic down in South Fremantle, but wouldn’t a zebra crossing like this one in China be a great way to slow down motorists, and no doubt it would become a tourist attraction as well.

The optical illusion no doubt would make me slow down before driving over it, and it looks great.

Roel Loopers

NEW LIGHTS AT ESPLANADE ZEBRA CROSSINGS

 

 

Fremantle City Ward Councillor Rachel Pemberton  pointed out to me that there have been new lights installed at the new zebra crossings on Marine Terrace, as required by the Main Roads department. I mentioned in a post yesterday that the new lights were missing, so that shows my power of observation-not!

But someone needs to reset the timers of the lights as they were on during the day at 11am this morning and that is not needed.

Roel Loopers

FINALLY ZEBRA CROSSINGS ON MARINE TERRACE

 

 

Two well-overdue pedestrian zebra crossings have finally been installed at Marine Terrace near the corners of Essex Street and Collie Street. It will make life a lot easier for pedestrians to get from the CBD to the Fishing Boat Harbour, so well done City of Fremantle.

There are no pedestrian crossing signs yet and the additional lighting required by Mainroads is still not done but I am sure that will happen in due course.

 

Roel Loopers

ILLEGAL FREMANTLE PEDESTRIAN ACCESS CLOSURE

 

 

The City of Fremantle has not received permission from the WA Planning Commission to close the Pedestrian Access Way-PAW between Kellow Place and Swanbourne Street, but the PAW has remained closed, disregarding the WAPC’s direction.

Fremantle Council decided on July 26 last year to grant a temporary trial closure of one year after an application had been made for the closure on December 1, 2014.

The My Say Freo residents’ survey resulted in two submissions by local residents presented to Council, one to re-open the PAW with 22 signatures and one to keep the PAW closed with 13 signatures, but in October this year Fremantle Council decided to keep the PAW closed anyway, despite the directive from the WAPC, and asked officers to start negotiating with the state agency to see if they would change their opinion.

Local residents who are for keeping the PAW open received a letter from David Caddy, the Chair of the WAPC, dated November 21, 2018, which states that “……insufficient evidence exists at this point in time to warrant the closure. The proposed closure is not supported.”

David Caddy also wrote “Should the City of Fremantle decide to proceed with the closure and seek revised recommendation from the WAPC, then further justification will need to be provided to support the City’s position.”

Residents who want the PAW open rightly ask why the City of Fremantle keeps the PAW closed although it has not received permission to do so, which means the PAW has now been illegally closed for pedestrian access since the trial period finished six months ago.

One of the property owners who applied for the PAW closure has extended his brush fence across the entries to the PAW.

Roel Loopers

FREO’S CREATIVE TRAFFIC CALMING

 

 

The traffic calming along South Terrace in South Fremantle has become a bit more creative with the City of Fremantle painting red patterns on the road near the intersection with Lefroy Road.

It looks great CoF!

Roel Loopers

FINALLY ZEBRA CROSSINGS FOR MARINE TERRACE

 

It is long overdue, and something that I have called for for many years, but we are finally getting pedestrian zebra crossings on Marine Terrace in Fremantle, which is a nightmare to cross, especially on weekends.

Main Roads have approved that the City of Fremantle make the raised plateaus at Essex and Collie streets into proper zebra crossings to make crossing the busy road from the CBD to the Fishing Boat Harbour and vv. much safer.

However a lighting audit has found that the lighting at the crossings is not up to Australian standards and needs to be improved at a total cost of $ 60,000 to the City.

The Finance, Policy and Legislation Committee will on Wednesday decide if Council will want to invest that money to get the safer crossings.

Roel Loopers

HAMPTON ROAD CROSSING STATUS QUO

 

I can’t even remember how many Fremantle Council sessions, and community information sessions, and South Fremantle Precinct meetings, I have attended that discussed the dangers of crossing Hampton Road near the Scott Street intersection. I live there so I drive my car in and out of those streets and walk there every day, and shop at IGA and Peaches at the shopping centre between Lloyd  and Scott streets.

So it is fairly disappointing that after all this time and many, many months of talking the FPOL Committee of Fremantle Council decided they did not like the officer’s recommendation of Option One, but preferred the status quo of Option Two.

It means the Scott Street intersection will remain closed and the pedestrian crossing will not be moved 50 metres further south.

They all agreed that the bus lanes were the major problem and that the Main Roads department is basically the enemy of pedestrians, because all that department wants is fast vehicle movement. Now that’s something for the state government to get its teeth into!

The state’s $ 200,000 allocated for better pedestrian crossing, through the election promise by Simone McGurk MLA, could now be spent on re-designing the Lloyd Street/Hampton Road intersection and how to get in and out of the carpark at the shopping centre there, and also at Scott Street.

For me, as a local with extensive local knowledge, the fact is that having no right turn at Scott Street will only entice more motorists to drive too fast and unlawfully use the bus lanes to overtake other vehicles. I have witnessed on many occasions that cars drive in the bus lanes during peak hours all the way from Douro Road to South Street and vice versa.

The FPOL Committee voted 6-1 in favour of Option Two. Only Councillor Andrew Sullivan, who is one of our two South Ward Councillors, voted against it.

For the record. 147 public submissions were received. 65% of those preferred option 1 and only 15% of them the option 2 Councillors voted for last night. And 20% did not like either option.

Roel Loopers