FREMANTLE COMMUNITY GROUPS MERGER

 

The long-established Fremantle Society and the relatively new Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association have merged to combine forces for the Local Government election in October.

From what I gather FRRA will be swallowed up by FS and the groups will operate under the Fremantle Society name.

Many members would have been part of both groups, so it makes sense to reduce administration and duplications.

I hope a larger FS will make a more positive contribution to Fremantle and become part of the solution, instead of only being relentlessly negative and one-eyed about Fremantle Council.

It would be transparent if the larger Fremantle Society would now disclose how many paid members it does have, to substantiate its claims that it represents a large percentage of Fremantle residents.

Community groups are very important and can be hugely influential when they are willing to engage in respectful dialogue with Elected Members and Council staff, so I hope new Society members will push for that and stop the anti everything attitude of its president.

Roel Loopers

UNTRUE SPIN IS WRONG FROM ALL SIDES

Community groups have to be careful not to fall into the same trap as Councils do and start using spin to pull the wool over people’s eyes.

The most recent Freo Matters on-line newsletter by the Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association is doing just that and that makes one question the integrity of the community group.

FRRA writes that as part of the Kings Square Project development the “Council building’s only function is to house Councillors and Council staff” but that is not true at all.

The Civic Centre at Kings Square has always been a place for the community, where there are information sessions about new development, where public Council and Committee meetings are held, where community groups can book a room for meetings, where I attended the Citizen Jury on Kings Square, community sessions about new signs, city planning, traffic issue, the Perth Freight Link, council amalgamations, etc.etc. And of course the civic centre also houses the very-well visited library.

To claim the new building would just be an expensive new home for staff and elected members is a blatant lie, and FRRA knows that.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE RESIDENTS TAKE LEGAL ACTION ON KINGS SQUARE PROJECT

Well, well, well! I am flabbergasted, bemused, intrigued and stunned to hear that the Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association(FRRA) has hired Cottesloe celebrity lawyer John Hammond to stop the Kings Square development that was approved by the City of Fremantle some three years ago.

Only ten days ago it was announced that the State Government has short listed Sirona Capital as the preferred tenderer for a government department to move to Fremantle, and that will be at Kings Square.

It is anyone’s guess why FRRA decided to take action only now and not years ago and I wonder what the legal arguments to stop the development will be.

While the financial details of the development project between Fremantle City and Sirona Capital are a bit murky, I believe the project would create the badly needed revitalisation of the CBD, so a lengthy legal delay could be very damaging.

I have not read or heard more details about this, but will keep you up to date once more information becomes available.

Roel Loopers

 

NEW SOCIETY PRESIDENT WILL MAKE NO DIFFERENCE

The announcement that former Fremantle Councillor John Dowson has nominated to become the next president of the Fremantle Society made me contemplate how effective community groups in our city have been in recent years.

When I became the president of FS I wanted to get rid off the us and them thinking, with some committee members believing Fremantle Council was the enemy of FS. I believed we could achieve more with respectful dialogue, getting into the ears of the elected members, push for changes to development applications and policies and collaborate with the City of Fremantle. President Henty Farrar who took over from me, and I as vice president, very much continued that way, but I believe it has been a failure.

But it is not only the Fremantle Society who has failed to make any impact, and the demise started well before Henty and I were in charge, but the Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association and the Fremantle Inner City Residents Association also fell onto deaf ears when approaching Council.

According to Fremantle Council there is a large silent majority in our community who exactly want what all of us who speak up and participate in community consultation oppose, so we really have Buckley’s of finding any consideration for our views. That will not change under a Dowson lead Fremantle Society, it will just become more black&white and us versus them and more negativity. I don’t believe that is good for Fremantle, but neither was the previous respectful and collaborative way of dealing with the City, because our views were disrespectfully ignored.

A lot of blame should go to those who did not bother to vote at the last local government election, and contrary to some opinions I read it is not an endorsement of the sitting members or a rejection of those who nominated, but it was a vote for apathy, so Freo gets the Council it deserves because 75 percent of voters could not bother to vote.

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt has turned from a community leader into a manipulative politician whose word can no longer be trusted. He will tell you face to face that black is black but will argue at Council that black is white and gets away with it. Pettitt has a lot of influence behind the scenes and uses that power to push his own sustainability agenda. While Pettitt believes he can demand respect as Mayor of our city he and Council have long stopped treating the community with respect. They treat community consultation as a necessary nuisance, a mere box that has to be ticked under local government laws.

In my opinion it will not make one iota of a difference if John Dowson or Elvis Presley becomes the president of the Fremantle Society because we are trying to communicate with people who have earmuffs on to stop that annoying noise the community makes.

Roel Loopers

MINISTER: FREO CITY FOLLOWED LOCAL ACT ON KINGS SQUARE

Tony Simpson, Minister for Local Government, has answered questions about the Kings Square development put to him by Peter Tinley MLA, and as expected the Minister has decided to wash his hands off it all and not investigate anything as the local government act was followed, according to him.

The City of Fremantle media officer advised me the reason media outlets and bloggers did not receive the official response from CEO Graeme McKenzie was that they received a request from the Fremantle Gazette to put an embargo on it and the City was happy to give the never controversial or critical newspaper the exclusive. I find that astounding.

Here it is Minister Tony Simpson written reply to Peter Tinley’s questions:

Question

(1) Is the Minister aware of community concerns over how the City of Fremantle has represented the financial implications of their $45 million investment of ratepayer funds in its Kings Square Business Plan, and if so, what action has the Minister taken to address these concerns?
(2) Has the Minister directed the City of Fremantle to answer legitimate ratepayer questions concerning the Kings Square Business Plan, and if not, why not?
(3) Has the Minister conducted a full and proper investigation into the questions raised with regard to the Kings Square Business Plan:
(a) if so, what were the findings; and
(b) if not, why not?
(4) Is the Minister satisfied that the Kings Square Business Plan:
(a) accurately represents the financial implications that the $45 million project will have on the City of Fremantle’s asset base; and
(b) correctly represents the rate of return and net present value derived from this investment of ratepayer funds?
(5) Is the Minister satisfied that the Kings Square Business Plan contains sufficient detail for ratepayers and Councillors to properly understand whether this project increases or decreases the asset base of the City of Fremantle, and if so, for what reason?

Answered on 5 May 2015

(1) Yes, I have received correspondence from the Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association on this matter.
(2) No, theLocal Government Act 1995confers limited powers and authority for me to intervene or direct a local government in the performance of functions it is legally entitled and empowered to undertake.
(3) No
(a) Not applicable
(b) See answer to question 2 above
(4)(a)-(b) My Department of Local Government and Communities has not undertaken any analysis of the financial assumptions in the plan.
(5) The principal consideration for me, as Minister for Local Government, is whether the City has acted contrary to the Local Government Act 1995in its handling of the matter. The materials that have been forwarded to me do not demonstrate that the City has acted unlawfully or in a manner that is contrary to the Act.

LOCAL COUNCIL DEMOCRACY MYTH

The recent debate at Fremantle Council about Ward representation and local government elections made me think about the relevance of them when only around 25 percent of the electorate bothers to vote at Council elections, while the rest stays at home. So do we really get community representation and the claimed community democracy I speak so highly about?

Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association(FRRA) President Mark Woodcock made good points earlier this week about it, writing that in the 2011 Council election Bill Massie, Jon Strachan and Robert Fittock got in unopposed while in the 2013 election Josh Wilson and David Cogging did not have candidates standing against them. North Fremantle Ward Councillor Fittock was unopposed at the 2007 and 2011 elections, so how could he possibly claim to speak on behalf of constituents.

That is not an attack on Robert or any of the other unopposed Elected Members, but showing that there is an unbelievable apathy when it comes to electing community leaders to speak on our behalf at local councils. From memory just over 25% of voters bothered to vote at the last Freo Council election.

In light of these figures, would it make one iota of a difference if we have a Ward system in place at the start of the council amalgamation with East Fremantle? Aren’t Wards very NIMBY anyway and not relevant to the bigger picture, because Councillors are required to vote for what they consider best for the entire community, not just the Wards they represent.

We often read about silent majorities when elected members in local, state and federal governments go against the opinion of the vocal and involved members of the public, but if the so-called silent majority at Council level can’t bother to vote they have no voice and should not claim to have a silent one.

If you can’t be bothered to turn up at the Townhall once every four years to vote for your preferred local candidate for your Ward than you have given away your right to whinge and to expect better representation for your local issues. You are not part of the silent majority but of the apathetic majority. That apathy is shown every week at Council committees and full Council when hardly anyone turns up in the public gallery. Often it is just Mark Woodcock and I who sit through those evenings observing how local democracy works. Only those with a self interest now and then turn up and address council, often not even understanding basic Council procedures.

Democracy is a privilege that people in many countries in the world still only can dream about, but we in the western world take it for granted and give it the cold shoulder, when it should really matter to all of us who will lead Fremantle into the future. Having Wards is less important than getting rid of voters apathy.

Roel Loopers

MARK WOODCOCK NEW FRRA PRESIDENT

White Gum Valley chef Mark Woodcock has been elected the new President of the FREMANTLE RESIDENTS AND RATEPAYERS ASSOCIATION and I believe that is a very good decision by the FRRA members as Mark has been very active and outspoken and attends most Fremantle council and committee meetings.

Mark stood for Fremantle Council City Ward at the last election but Simon Naber won in that ward.

Community groups like FFRA, FICRA and the Fremantle Society, together with active precinct groups are very important to get the voice of the community heard, and they will become even more essential after the amalgamation and when Fremantle doubles in size, so keep up the good work Mark!

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE’S CBD NEEDS CPR

These photos show the extremely worrying signs for retail in Fremantle and it can’t be ignored any longer that our city is at crisis point.

Because of that, and no matter how good the intentions might be, this is not the right time for the City of Fremantle to change residents’ parking permits and put more restrictions on them. Mark Woodcock-acting chair of the Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association- is right about that in today’s Fremantle Herald.

This is the opportune time where the City should introduce free parking days in the CBD and stop dreaming the green dream of making the inner city car free. That needs to wait till the revival of the inner city is complete.

Our retailers need support, they need help, even CPR, to survive because this city cannot afford to see more shops closing and giving people even less incentives to come and shop in Freo.

We need action NOW, not next month or next year!

Next week Many 6160 will be celebrating their one year anniversary of the retail incubation project in the former MYER store, and while that has been a nice interim solution, we are still eagerly waiting for Sirona Capital to finally make a start at the renovations of that building and the development of the Queensgate site. This is so crucial for Fremantle’s revival that it can’t be kept on hold indefinitely and we deserve to know when it will start.

Sirona has claimed in the media that they have other irons in the fire and don’t depend on Housing moving to Fremantle, so let them show that was not empty PR spin, because basically they are holding back Fremantle’s renewal.

Roel Loopers

COUNCILLORS’ DEBATE DURING AMALGAMATION SPECIAL MEETING

There appears to have communication problems between the organisers of next Tuesday’s Fremantle Councillors Debate at the Italian Club, organised by the Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association. The event starts at 7 pm but Fremantle Council does have a special meeting at 6 pm that night on the council amalgamation, so it is very doubtful sitting elected members who are being challenged for their position; Mayor Brad Pettitt, Andrew Sullivan, Doug Thompson and Sam Wainwright, will be able to attend the FRRA meeting. To me that is not fair If only the wannabe councillors are able to speak while the sitting members have no opportunity to question, and defend their record on council.

Democracy is about fairness, so I suggest FRRA changes the event to another day.

 

Roel Loopers

KEEPING FREO SO LOW IS ALSO NO GO

Fremantle has another lobby group in the newly established Fremantle Residents and Ratepayers Association (FRRA). The first action of the new group was to produce bumper stickers that read VITALISE WITHOUT HIGH RISE.

It is disappointing though to hear the in my opinion unrealistic view of the association, which opposes any new development above three storeys. Surely Fremantle can handle a bit more height that three storeys. We can’t remain a large country town forever and need to grow and grow up.

Roel Loopers.