NEGLECTED CARRIAGE CAFE A FREMANTLE DISGRACE

The vacant and abandoned former Carriage cafe on the Fremantle Esplanade is a disgraceful eyesore, that the City of Fremantle elects to neglect.

The building has been empty for a couple of years now, but there are no attempts made to either re-activate it, or remove or demolish the lovely little building.

The City has erected fences around it, to keep people out, but boards have been ripped out of one of the walls, so that vagrants can gain access to the building. Gutters have also been torn from the roof.

Every weekend many people come to have a picnic on the Esplanade, and the cafe is close to the playground and skateboard park, and is frequented by hundreds of tourists, wo why do we have to put up with this?

Take action, Fremantle Council! The procrastination is hurting Freo’s image. Get it done!

Roel Loopers

THE SAD SAGA OF THE CARRIAGE CAFE

The old Carriage Cafe on the Fremantle Esplanade has been fenced off by the City of Fremantle, to keep rough sleepers out, but what is the future of the lovely little cafe?

The City has been wanting it removed or demolished for years, but that has not happened. I hear that the owners and the City are in a bit of a battle, with the City wanting outstanding rent, whilst the owners want financial compensation.

Whatever is going on, the status quo is not acceptable and a solution needs to be found with urgency, and ideally before summer when tourists will be back. Lease and activate the site, or get rid off the building. Leaving it as it is is unsightly and makes Freo look a mess.

Roel Loopers

A WHOLE LOAD OF BULL

Whilst the new Fremantle destination marketing campaign is about A Whole Load Of New, the City of Fremantle appears to be taken the old, established and heritage for granted, and neglects it.

The Carriage cafe, built in 1912, on the Esplanade is such a case, as the above photos show, but that is not all by a long stretch. The historic Fremantle Townhall interior is a disgrace, and so are parts of historic Arthur’s Head. Fremantle Council keeps telling us there is no money for the essential maintenance of some of our city’s most important buildings and precincts.

The former Dome cafe premises at the Cappuccino Strip also look awful, and Victoria Hall needs urgent TLC, but nothing is happening.

I understand that the City of Fremantle wants the Carriage cafe owner to demolish the building, while the owners want financial compensation of thousands of dollars. Stay tuned.

Roel Loopers

FOUR FREO CITY OWNED CAFE SITES CLOSED

Four commercial properties of the City of Fremantle are vacant, so why are there no Expressions of Interest out to try to lease and activate them?

The iconic Carriage Cafe on the Esplanade has been vacant for months, and the former Dome cafe site on the Cappuccino Strip closed more than a year ago, and has had the windows blackened with plastic sheets. The cafe at the Fremantle Leisure Centre also has been closed for over a year, and the good cafe operators of the Fremantle Arts Centre were kicked out late last year, although they were keen to extend their lease.

All these venues are in popular locations, that should give confidence to running successful businesses there, so why is nothing happening?

I asked the City of Fremantle, and was told that they can’t provide any updates about these spaces, as the CoF is still working through a variety of processes relating to each of them. In the meantime the cash-strapped City misses out on receiving revenue from four City owned properties.

Roel Loopers

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE CARRIAGE CAFE?

Whatever happened to the lovely Carriage cafe, that has been on the Fremantle Esplanade for 110 years?

Previous owners Rochelle and Dave sold it, it traded for a short while, but now has been closed for months, and already vandalised. What a shame!

Roel Loopers

WHAT IS THE FUTURE OF THE CARRIAGE CAFE?

There is a “confidential” item on the agenda of this Wednesday’s FPOL Committee of Fremantle Council about an offer to lease the Carriage cafe on the Esplanade.

It will be interesting to find out if the lovely venue will remain a cafe, or might become a nice cosy bar, or, because of the proximity to the Esplanade Youth Plaza, might be turned into a burger bar.

Whatever the future of the Carriage might be the Esplanade needs to be lit up at night, especially along Marine Terrace. A long string of lights from tree to tree would make the area much more attractive at night.

Roel Loopers

FREO CITY, SUPPORT THE WEST END ACTIVATORS!

 

 

I hear that the owners of the cute Carriage Cafe on the Fremantle Esplanade have been told that they can stay till March next year and then will be offered a lease until 2022, but with the option for the City of Fremantle to terminate the lease on a monthly basis.

This is ridiculous, unprofessional and unworkable, as no one in their right mind will invest in a business that does not have a secure long-term tenure.

Last winter the thick plastic ‘curtains’ that keep the wind and rain out of the cafe’s dining area where ripped to pieces during a storm, so the owners will have to put new ones in which will cost thousands of dollars. Why would they do that if they can be chucked out on short notice? Even a pop-up shop gets a six-month lease, for heaven’s sake!

Why does Fremantle Council make it so hard for businesses who want to stay in Fremantle, when vacant shop fronts pop up faster than weeds in our city? Does anyone at all understand what commercial viability means and how important safe tenure is?

Let’s be realistic and pragmatic about the Esplanade masterplan. The new hub and new cafe won’t happen for years, if at all, because the City of Fremantle does not have the money to finance it, so accept the reality and support the Carriage Cafe owners who have plans to also open at night as a restaurant.

West End businesses were left off the new shopping map, and Arthur’s Head businesses are not sure about their future there, while the place is falling apart because of poor maintenance, so it’s urgent time for Fremantle Council to stop talking about wanting to activate the West End of Fremantle and actually start supporting those who are already activating it!

Roel Loopers

 

FREO ESPLANADE CARRIAGE CAFE TO STAY

 

 

Fremantle Council wants to let the Carriage Cafe on the Esplanade operate for another three years but on a month by month term.

The reason for the extension is that the City wants to delay the development of the Esplanade Hub by up to three years.

The Esplanade Hub was supposed to be developed between the Youth Plaza and ferris wheel and a new hospitality venue built there, and the Carriage Cafe would have had to be removed or demolished, but the City of Fremantle no longer has the money to realise these plans.

The item is on the FPOL committee agenda this coming Wednesday.

Roel Loopers

FREO IS THE CAPITAL OF GREAT LITTLE CAFES

 

 

Photos I took this morning of two well-known Freo cafes. The shadows are at the Carriage cafe on the Esplanade and the arty entrance is of the Moore&Moore cafe in Henry Street.

Fremantle has a lot of hidden little gem cafes, so go out and explore!

Roel Loopers

ESPLANADE NEW HUB ON SLOW BURNER

 

A new burger restaurant on the Fremantle Esplanade remains a pipe dream for the time being, as City of Fremantle officers do not believe building the new hospitality venue should be a priority for the City, and they are hesitant to recommend that proponent Parklife should construct the building themselves on crown land.

The City has nominated $ 1.1 million in its forward budget estimates to construct the so-called Esplanade Hub in the 2018/19 financial year, however it is likely the officers will recommend to council that this is a lower priority project when compared to other projects. so it is probable that it will be delayed till at least 2019/20.

The Esplanade Reserve Masterplan was signed off in 2015, but has been controversial in the community, with even some senior officers at the City not being supportive of the new ‘hub’ idea near the railway line and Tourist Wheel.

At the Strategy and Project Development Committee last night Councillor Rachel Pemberton mentioned that sometimes Council loses track of Masterplans and they grow too big, and she said the area is surrounded by food and beverage options already.

Other Councillors said they would not want to be burned again, as happened with the Sunset Events tavern at J Shed.

Councillors Doug Thompson and Andrew Sullivan were at loggerheads, with Thompson saying that the Kings Square Project was the main focus for the City and it could not afford another major project for five years or so, while Sullivan said the Esplanade was crying out right now for that kind of development and that a city like Fremantle should be able to handle more major projects at the same time.

Councillor Ingrid Waltham said the City should be looking for other options, a smaller cafe, and that the proposed burger restaurant was too big. Councillor Pemberton agreed and said the community would not be too happy to lose more of the grassed area, and that it might be better to do the project in the future when the Esplanade was extended into the Italian Club carpark.

Councillor Thompson made one of the best observations of the evening, by saying that no one had ever said to him that we need to redevelop the cafe on the Esplanade.

Councillor Pemberton also questioned if the Dismantle containers were actually used and suggested strongly that if they are not used they should be removed, or Council could take them over for uses related to the Esplanade Youth Plaza, such as skateboard hire.

I believe the City of Fremantle would do well to investigate what can be done to retain the Carriage Cafe in its present location, as moving it might structurally not be possible. Instead of spending a lot of money on building a new food outlet, Council should be looking at how it can support the existing cute cafe and help it grow into a restaurant and small bar with nearby public toilets.

We don’t always have to reinvent the wheel in Freo and we don’t really need another burger outlet, or another food outlet when there are nine of them on the other side of the railway line at the Fishing Boat Harbour, from Little Creatures, Baskin&Robbins, Joe’s Fish Shack, Han’s Cafe, Cicerello’s, Kailis, Char Char Bull, Bathers Beach House, all the way to Sweetlips.

 

Roel Loopers