GO ENJOY A FREMANTLE PORTS HARBOUR TOUR

The Fremanle Ports Harbour Tours are on again. Enjoy a scenic and educational boat tour travelling along both sides of the Inner Harbour: Victoria Quay and North Quay. While you enjoy spectacular views of the harbour, our “Friends of Fremantle Ports” volunteers will provide commentary on Fremantle Ports’ daily operations and rich history.

This tour will be on the water on a chartered vessel, with strict time scheduling. We heavily recommend arriving before the start time to avoid missing the tour. Enclosed footwear is required and wet weather gear (if rain has been forecast)

This event is restricted to ages 6 and up.

The tours start and finisg at the East Street jetty at Beach Street. On Sunday April 21 there will be tours at 11am, 12 noon, and 1, 2 and 3pm.

Bookings essential, so check Facebook or the Fremantle Ports website for details.

Roel Loopers

DREDGING OF THE FREMANTLE INNER HARBOUR

The Fremantle Inner Harbour maintenance dredging project began yesterday. The dredging is planned to only run for ten days, but more than 18 months of planning has gone into this project by Fremantle Ports to ensure it’s done well, and in an appropriate manner.

Dredging of the Inner Harbour by the TRUD R vessel will remove 60,000 cubic meters of sediment that has come down the river since the harbour was deepened in 2010. That amount is relatively small, just 2 per cent of what was removed when the harbour was deepened in 2010. 

This will allow the port to maintain harbour depth so large ships can continue to enter and leave safely and efficiently. The dredged sediment will be deposited offshore in Gage Roads anchorage, on the advice of marine consultants, and in line with an Australian Government approval.

Fremantle Ports engaged environmental consultants to provide advice on the maintenance dredging. The project’s been assessed to have a low environmental risk and disposal operations planned to have as little impact as possible on the seabed, water quality, marine fauna and seagrass meadows. Some limited plumes are anticipated both upstream and downstream, but are expected to be no worse than river water with sediment in suspension, as seen during mid-winter. 

The dredging project marks the first opportunity for Fremantle Ports to use three newly-trained Indigenous Marine Rangers. One of the rangers will conduct marine monitoring on a science vessel before, during and after the dredging operations and the other two rangers underwent training as marine species observers and will be positioned on the dredge. Marine species observation is a highly regarded skill in the marine environmental industry and will provide valuable ongoing work opportunities for the rangers.

Roel Loopers

ADDING VITAMIN C TO VICTORIA QUAY

C Shed on Victoria Quay is the largest shed on the wharf. Fremantle Ports has spent a lot of money on stabilising and maintaining it, and will soon be looking to activate it permanently. What do you believe it should become?

Whilst I really like the Gage Road tavern and brewery, I don’t believe C Shed should become another hospitality venue. It will be used temporarily for an event of the Fremantle Biennale 2023, that was also launched there on Friday.

It is a huge shed, so probably best suited for collaboration. Whatever it is, Fremantle Ports should make sure it will be used 24/7 all year, and not like the Naval Stores at Cantonment Hill that appears to be activated sparsely.

Roel Loopers

WHERE IS C.Y. WHEN FREO NEEDS HIM?

It is unfortunate that WA’s iconic legend C.Y O’Connor was not involved in the billion dollar Fremantle construction pipeline, because the pipeline has burst, or is blocked.

We have had announcements and planning approvals for so many major development projects, but most of them have stagnated, are on hold, paused, delayed, even scrapped, so where does that leave Fremantle Council’s aspirations for a vibrant and modern future?

The substantial Adina Hotel development on the former Woolstores site, by Silverleaf Investments, has been scaled down to a mere three-storey building, that looks like the old one, and will again become home to a Coles supermarket, plus a childcare centre and offices. The hotel is penciled in as stage 1B, but would have to be redesigned and re-approved, due to the significant change on the corner of Cantonment and Queen streets, when and if it happens.

The owners of the woolstores opposite Clancy’s have indicated they want to do a mixed development, but there is no timeline for that, and neither is there a construction start for the Point Street carpark site, owned by Sirona Urban, who want to build residential there, but have said they are waiting until the construction industry has normalised.

The seven-storey hotel development at South Terrace, by the Yolk Property Group, will be pushed back by 18 months, and the six-storey wood frame office building on the corner of High and Josephson streets does not look like starting any time soon either.

The six-storey boutique hotel by Twiggy Forrest’s Tattarang group, on the William Street carpark, won’t be commencing for at least two years, and nothing is happening at the Orient Hotel they own either.

The Prindiville Group has bought the former Technical College, opposite the Fremantle Markets, but there is also no time line yet for the development they have flagged in that location.

The massive Burt Street residential development by the State Government is very slow progress and does not include sufficient affordable and social housing, whilst there are not even architecture plans yet for the new Fremantle Police Complex, announced over two years ago. It does not look that will be happening in a hurry either. Public works take long, Premier Mark McGowan said at Fremantle Oval last Sunday

The election promise of a new theatre for Spare Parts Puppet Theatre at Pioneer Park has not been forthcoming, with Arts Minister David Templeman stating the plans were only aspirational. Yep, sure. Why then publish the artist’s renders by Kerry Hill architects before the election? SPPT is now closed.

There are even rumours the State Government is “pausing” the new Fremantle traffic bridge-Swan River Crossings-development. If true, that would make a mockery of Mainroads’ claims that the old wooden traffic bridge is not safe and can’t be retained.

The development of Fremantle Oval is still a very long way away, and so is the Heart of Beaconsfield’s massive development around the former TAFE site. The planned development for the Fishing Boat Harbour has gone very quiet, so don’t expect any development there either in the near future.

So will there be any major construction in Fremantle any time soon? We have been told that the Covid pandemic slowed everything down, and that is a fair point, but now there is a construction industry crisis, supply chain issues, and labour shortage, so how and when will that change and improve?

Fremantle has waited for a very long time for a rebirth and the re-activation of the inner city.

It started well with the Kings Square Redevelopment Project and the new FOMO buildings, the Walyalup Civic Centre, the Heirloom and Liv residential developments at Queen Victoria Street, the Energy Museum appartments and the eight-storey Little Lane building next to Target, but things have come to a crushing halt.

The pipeline is blocked, so who will unblock it and when? Where is CY when we need him!

Roel Loopers

RECORDING THE FREMANTLE PORT HISTORY

It might as well be me who starts taking historic photos of Fremantle Port. When our working port has been moved to Kwinana, in 15-25 years, it will be too late to record its significant history and importance to our city.

Roel Loopers

WAS THE VICTORIA QUAY JUST THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF A PIPE DREAM?

I have been thinking a bit about yesterday’s announcement by Premier Mark McGowan and Planning Minister Rita Saffioti that the State will be spending about $ 20 million on facelift for historic Victoria Quay. The first $ 7 million will go on planning, but why?

There are filing cabinets full of plans for Victoria Quay at Fremantle Ports, but it was all talk and no action. Only a few months ago the Future of Fremantle Planning Committee was established, to look at the big picture of what the Fremantle Port area could become if the port activities are moved to a new port at Kwinana. Should the WA Government not be waiting for at least the first report of that extensive committee before announcing more non researched plans for VQ?

It is easy to say that parking on Victoria Quay is not great for the eye and that we should landscape the area, but parking there is essential for many people and long term parking is needed for people who hop on one of the Rottnest Island ferries.

Relocating the RoRo vessels away from Victoria Quay, presumably to accommodate unsightly movie studio concrete bunkers, is more difficult than just said. Where would they go? A Large area would be needed and North Quay is pretty much full with container activity. Building a new port, or upgrading one, for live sheep trade will take years. Could they go to the Bulk Jetty at Kwinana, or even further all the way up to Geraldton?

The talk of a facelift and landscaping for the station forecourt has also been going on for over twenty years, but the Public Transport Authority refuses to move the bus port a few hundred metres to the East, so unless the Planning Minister starts kicking arse at the PTA nothing will happen there again.

Premature and un-researched media announcements are useless. Why were we not shown plans of what the State actually want to do? Why just a generic announcement that lacked substance. It’s only a pipe dream, until real work actually happens, so don’t hold your breath, Freo!

Roel Loopers

HAPPY BERTHDAY TO VICTORIA QUAY

It’s the Fremantle Inner Harbour’s 125th anniversary today!

On 4 May 1897, SS Sultan sailed through the entrance into the harbour and the official opening took place. The photos show how the Inner Harbour was constructed and its official opening.

Here an extract from the 1935 Port of Fremantle Handbook of Information about the harbour construction: The question of an Inner or an Outer Harbour for Fremantle occasioned considerable debate, and eminent authorities on harbour construction came forward in support of each of several proposals. It was not, however, until 1891 that the late Mr CY O’Connor, who in that year had accepted the office of Engineer-in-Chief of Western Australia, submitted designs and proposals which were eventually adopted and became the basis for the construction of the present Inner Harbour. Work was commenced in accordance with these plans in 1892 and on 16 November of that year the first truckload of stone was tipped into the sea as the beginning of North Mole.

I love Freo’s working port and visit it almost daily.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE PORTS SERIOUS ABOUT HERITAGE CONSERVATION

It is great to see that Fremantle Ports is getting serious about heritage preservation! It has been spending a lot of money on Victoria Quay, the Slip Street buildings and A Shed, and will be commencing with C Shed in the next few weeks, replacing the temporary roof, reinforcing the foundations and straightening the structure, so that it can be leased out in the future, and help activate Victoria Quay.

E Shed is also getting a necessary facelift, so things are looking up for heritage in Freo.

Roel Loopers

PORCELLI CREATING CY O’CONNOR STATUE

I had never seen this historic photo of sculptor Pietro Porcelli working on the statue of CY O’Connor, so a big thank you to Jess Baratt, who posted it on Twitter this morning.

The photo was published in The Mirror newspaper in March 1910. O’Connor’s statue has of course pride of place in front of the Fremantle Ports building on Victoria Quay.

Roel Loopers

VISIT FREMANTLE AND SEE OUR BUST WITH LEGS

A bust with legs

The VISIT FREMANTLE social media tourism marketing of the City of Fremantle has not had a good weekend. Yesterday, only a couple of hours after reports of a fatal shark attack off Port Beach, Visit Fremantle posted on Twitter a drone shot of Leighton Beach, which is next to Port Beach, stating what a wonderful view the beach was.

Today on Facebook Visit Fremantle claimed that the statue of CY O’Connor in front of the Fremantle Ports building is a bust, when it fact it is a full figure life-size statue. Facts matter, even in tourism marketing.

Here the Facebook post which includes a photo of the Porcelli sculpture at Walyalup Koort:

Visit Fremantle

l4120no5cf69he0td  · Have you ever noticed this statue and wondered about its significance? Located in Walyalup Koort (formerly Kings Square), the statue is of Italian sculptor Pietro Giacomo Porcelli.Porcelli is responsible for many of the impressive sculptures located around Perth, including the C.Y. O’Connor bust at Fremantle Harbour. This artwork, by local sculptor Greg James Sculpture Studio Gallery, was commissioned by the Italian community in honour of his memory and his creative artistry.

Roel Loopers