REUSABLES AT GEORGE STREET FESTIVAL
File photo
At the East Fremantle GEORGE STREET FESTIVAL two weeks ago all food & beverage vendors were required to use GO2CUP in an effort to reduce unnecessary waste at the very popular annual festival
GO2CUP supplied over 20 vendors with reusable cups, plates and cutlery which were then placed in allocated bins to be washed and used again at other events. Over 9,000 reusable items were used on the day!
Approximately 9,500 people came along to the event with only 300 – 400kg of waste being collected for the whole day!
The Town of East Fremantle is very grateful to all volunteers who kindly assisted at the bins stations, including members from the East Fremantle Junior Football Club, WREN and Recycle Right WA.
Well done everyone. Great effort!
Roel Loopers
STAFF PAY WORRIES AT SOMA KITCHEN
Very disappointing to hear that the owner of Fremantle’s SOMA Kitchen in Little Market Street will be taken to court by the Fair Work Ombudsman for failing to comply with an order to calculate money owed to an employee and back-pay him.
It is alleged that the worker was paid only $ 212.50 for 146 hours of working at the restaurant.
Penalties of up to $ 30,000 are possible, so that would be a big shock for owner Giancarlo Daniele. The court hearing is scheduled for February 13 next year.
It appears that there are too many mistakes made in the hospitality industry when it comes to paying workers, and even governments, such as the City of Fremantle, have been caught out underpaying staff. That needs to improve.
Roel Loopers
FRE-OH! SUMMER MAGAZINE A GREAT READ
The summer edition of the quarterly City of Fremantle FRE-OH! magazine is out and a great read. It will be delivered to your letterbox but is also available on-line on Facebook and the City’s website.
The cover is of the delightful milliner Kate Hulett, well known from her Kate and Abel hat shop at Many 2.0 and from her involvement with Spacemarket.
There is also a good story about Gerard O’Brien and Silverleaf Investments, and the brilliant restoration work they are doing at the historic Manning building, a story about new businesses, one about book clubs, a spread about North Fremantle, another one about lifesaving, etc. There is even a short story about this Loopy blogger in it.
FRE-OH! is a good way to stay connected with our community and to find out all about the latest news in the port city.
Roel Loopers
LOOPY BLOGGER’S REPUTATION IN TATTERS
My reputation as a hard-nosed, hard-drinking, uncompromising, but fair and balanced, investigative blogger with impeccable integrity is in tatters, now that I have been pulled down into the category of celebrities.
There is no way I can recover from having my ugly old mug plastered on the new hoardings along the construction site of the City of Fremantle new Civic Centre at Kings Square, and it was made worse by now also appearing in the City’s quarterly FRE-OH! magazine this week.
What’s next?! Will I end up on the social pages of the West and Sunday Times, and get invited on celebrity panels of irrelevant TV daytime shows?
My enemies will claim that I reached the status of Freo celebrity by being a sycophant who is the mouthpiece for the Freo Mayor, and by receiving kickbacks from all the property developers in our city, but that is fake news. All I received was $ 25,000 for being a model for the Robert Frith photography, and the Fremantle hospitality industry agreeing that for the short rest of my life I can have free meals, drinks and coffees in any cafe, bar, tavern and restaurant of my choice. ; >)
In the meantime I’ll endeavour to continue to give you as much information about what is happening in Fremantle as I can, and to live on the bones of my arse, formerly known as the government pension.
Anyway, I feel honoured and humbled, and appreciated, which is lovely. I am touched, thank you!
Roel Loopers
Anything going on in Freo? Events, new businesses, news. Let me now! roelloopers48@gmail.com
DUCKS AT BATHERS BEACH
Fremantle J Shed sculptor Greg James has created these lovely ducks and they are out and about on the grass at J Shed, so take the kids for a look, and also have a look inside at all the art displayed in the gallery.
Roel Loopers
DECLUTTER YOUR HOME WITH KIAH
Fremantle’s Kiah Bouchet wants to help us de-cluttering our homes and businesses.
It is very ZEN to live in a minimalist home, and less clutter is supposed to be much better for our mental well-being, but unintentional hoarding happens daily in most homes.
Call Kiah on 0403 239506. She’ll help you decide what to throw out, or recycle.
Roel Loopers
ELIZA SCULPTURE CLIMATE PROTEST
I do realise that now is not the time to talk about taking action on climate change, or the future of planet earth, but I thought to share this photo with you anyway, that the RED REBELS put on Facebook today, since it is the Eliza sculpture in the Swan river by East Fremantle artist Tony Jones.
While Australia is burning, supposedly intelligent and mature people are denigrating a Swedish schoolgirl, who is passionate about her future and the planet she lives on.
Praying to an imaginary god has replaced leadership in this country.
Roel Loopers
FREO’S LITTLE OPERA HOUSE
Some of the artworks of the Undercurrent Fremantle Biennale are still standing, and this one is on the boardwalk at the Fishing Boat Harbour. The distorted reflection makes the back of Little Creatures look more like the Sydney Opera House.
Roel Loopers
UNIQUE ABORIGINAL CHRISTMAS DECORATION
If you are looking for a colourful and unique way to decorate your Christmas tree, stop by the Walyalup Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Mrs Trivett Lane on Arthur’s Head, just a hundred metres from the historic Roundhouse in Fremantle.
Drop in Wed-Fri 10am-3pm or Sat 12-3pm and grab these baubles made by artists from Halls Creek and Yuendumu while they are still available!
Individual baubles are $8 and gift boxes are $25.
While you are up there, don’t forget to visit the Glen Cowans underwater photography gallery for great Christmas gifts! Mounted prints from $ 35 and jewellery from $ 25. Brilliant and unique gifts!
Roel Loopers
WOOLSTORES PLANS A BIG IMPROVEMENT
Predictably the Fremantle Society has lodged a submission with the City of Fremantle against the planning approval for a mixed use development of the Woolstores shopping centre site, as the FS president shared with his members.
John Dowson argues that there is no need to rush the development of the site and that the City should take possession of the six shops near the corner of Elder Place and Queen Street, which was investigated by Fremantle Council last year, but no action taken.
The Society has many arguments against the development, and I too have heard some architects say the plans were disappointing, while others find it acceptable. I believe the development would be a huge improvement to the bland and boring building that is currently there, so that would be a big step forward to modernising that run-down part of Fremantle’s CBD, and for me that is a priority for our city.
Of course the plans could be different and better, and if we asked 25 architects we would get 25 different plans, and everyone of them would receive criticism from the public and other architects. That is the simple reality of life and anything creative. Someone else will always have another, maybe better, idea on how to improve our city.
For example, as a layman, I would have liked to see the corner of the building at Cantonment Street be rounded, to compliment the other corner and also the roundabout there, and there are no doubt many other ideas on how the plans could be improved, but too many cooks…..
I am more interested in the big picture and see the development in context with what is happening at Kings Square, the Little Lane residential development over the road, the proposed Hilton Doubletree hotel development, the Energy Museum development, a possible new use for the Adelaide Plaza next to the Basilica, and maybe a new hotel on the former Spicers site at William Street.
All these developments, once realised, will make that part of Fremantle much safer, and far more attractive and it will start creating the 24/7 economy and lifestyle that Fremantle needs, if our retailers and hospitality providers are going to survive.
We all want perfection and outstanding architecture, but that will not happen overnight. We need to accept that progress is slow and not always perfect, but the plans for the Woolstores are a big improvement for this significant site, and I hope they will be approved, and that Silverleaf Investments will commence with the construction very fast.
Roel Loopers
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