FREO AGE FRIENDLY WORKING GROUP

 

The City of Fremantle has established an Age Friendly City Working Group, which comprises of age care specialists and members of the Fremantle community.

The members of the committee are Steve Waddingham of Alzeimer’s WA, Stuart Tomlinson of the Fremantle Multicultural Centre, Julie Ray of Amana Living, and Leah Gray of the Hilton Foley Village and Souther Cross Care.

Community members are Betty Garlett, Sylvia Lang, Cathy Hall, Ella Peaty, Rob Fittock and Roel Loopers.

During the last election campaign in October voters expressed a need for a ‘circle of elders’ to cater for the fast ageing population, and Fremantle Council acknowledged that this was a good idea.

Roel Loopers

BRILLIANT FREMANTLE ART EXHIBITION

 

 

The Fremantle Arts Assemblage is holding another exhibition at the Fremantle Moores Gallery in Henry Street from October 19 to November 4, so make sure to go and have a look at it.

One of my favourite print makers Junko Kitamura is in the show, and so are Sharyn Egan, Alan Muller, Simon Gilby, Rebecca Dagnall, David Spencer, Fiona Gavino, Mark Welsh, Alessandra Rossi, and many others.

The them of the show is Undercurrent.

The show opens this Friday at 6pm with live music by the Brilliant Brothers and The Flukes.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE URBAN FOREST GROWS

 

A media report by the City of Fremantle reports that more than 1800 trees have been planted over the past 12 months as part of the plan to create an urban forest in Fremantle.

In the last financial year a total of 714 trees were planted by the City of Fremantle on residential verges and in local parks, while another 92 were added as part of the landscaping component of City projects like pocket parks, car parks and walkways.

This follows the planting of 500 verge and park trees in the previous year, and is the result of the doubling of the City’s tree-planting budget from $60,000 to $120,000.

In addition, the City also planted 12,000 plants – including 1015 trees – in dunes, bushland and the river foreshore during nine community planting days and 21 volunteer planting days with conservation volunteers and local schools.

The City’s Urban Forest Plan forms part of the Greening Fremantle strategy 2020, which aims to progressively increase tree planting across the City to achieve at least 20 per cent canopy coverage. It stands at 13 per cent currently.

Samson had the highest tree planting numbers in 2017/18 due to the City’s targeted Greening Samson project. Mapping undertaken for the Urban Forest Plan identified Samson had some of the lowest canopy coverage in Fremantle, which meant Samson was on average two degrees hotter than nearby suburbs due to the urban heat island effect.

A total of 212 trees were planted in Samson alone, while another 299 were planted in Beaconsfield, Hilton and Fremantle, and 203 in South Fremantle, North Fremantle, White Gum Valley and O’Connor.

The species of trees planted included red flowering gums, bottlebrushes, jacarandas and tuart trees, with the varieties carefully chosen to best suit the local conditions and surroundings.

What the City of Fremantle did not mention in its media report is the number of trees that have been removed, due to new development, etc. so does anyone keep a record of that?

Roel Loopers

 

ENJOY THE SUN WHILE IT LASTS!

 

 

 

We have two hot days ahead of us before it gets colder and the rain will be back on Thursday, so make the best of the good weather while you can.

This colourful photo I took on Monday is all about Freo; heritage, colour, art, sun, people, alfresco.

Roel Loopers

OLD AND NEW AT FREMANTLE’S KINGS SQUARE

 

 

The demolition of the Fremantle council buildings at Kings Square continues. It looks pretty impressive with the new buildings rising behind it.

Great to see that the eastern wall of the Townhall has been well preserved.

Roel Loopers

FREMANTLE HERITAGE PATTERNS

 

 

There is always something new to discover in Fremantle when one is observant. I took this photo today of the heritage patterns at the Warders Cottages in Henderson Street.

Roel Loopers

MAKE HOTELS MORE FAMILY FRIENDLY

 

Bradley Woods, the CEO of the Australian Hotel Association has a whinge about Bed&Breakfasts and the unfairness of it all in the West Australian today.

There is no doubt that some regulation needs to be in place for B&Bs, which are already required to have a registration here in Fremantle, but B&Bs are here to stay no matter how much the AHA is against them.

The reality the AHA will have to deal with is that hotels are expensive for families and large groups, in comparison to B&Bs, so what is the AHA going to do about that?

Hotels are also not very family and children friendly, so when are we going to see secure playgrounds and play spaces in hotels? Maybe new hotels could even include community kitchens so that families don’t have to go and eat out three times a day, which is very costly and prohibitive for many. It is one of the reasons people book a B&B, where they can do most of the cooking in house, and the kids might even have a garden they can play in.

While serviced apartments, such as Quest in Pakenham Street at least have a kitchen where one can prepare a meal or two, they still lack facilities for children and families.

I hope some of the new planned hotels in Fremantle will make an effort to cater better for families, to combat the trend toward B&Bs and away from hotel accommodation.

 

Roel Loopers

URBAN INFILL DEMANDS NOISE PROTECTION MEASURES

 

One of only two agenda items for the Strategic Planning and Transport Committee on Wednesday will be the community consultation paper put out by the WA Planning Commission-WAPC about noise in entertainment areas such as Northbridge, and the question if Fremantle Council should consider asking the WAPC to include the Fremantle CBD in the trial.

Medium and high density urban infill has seen a rise in complaints in recent years from residents who are not happy with the noise from entertainment venues and transport, but the entertainment industry believes it is not fair that the onus should only be on them and that it should be shared with developers of new residential buildings, which should be required to put better noise insulation measures, such as double glazing and thicker glass in their developments.

I remember many years ago that when the new apartments opposite Clancy’s were built that it only took one week before the first complaint was made about live music there, although the tavern had been having regular live concerts for many many years.

In Fremantle where we are going to see a glut of new residential apartments and hotel rooms, combined with new taverns and bars, it is essential to also protect the livelihood of the hospitality industry and demand new buildings that have better noise protection for their users.

Roel Loopers

GREAT FREO BOUTIQUE HOTEL

 

 

National Hotel owner Karl Bullers gave me a quick preview of the new rooftop bar and twelve boutique hotel rooms and I left very impressed.

The rooftop bar will no doubt become one of Fremantle’s favourites, with sweeping views over the port, the historic West End and all over the city. The weather was very dull yesterday, so my photos unfortunately don’t do justice to the magnificence of it.

The hotel rooms are all individually styled with handmade furniture by Clint of Port Jarrah, which is just down the road from the hotel in High Street.

The rooms are really cosy and homely, some have views to the port, others over the city. The TVs are internet connected, there are bath tubs in some and twin showers in others, so recommend them to visitors who want something special smack bang in the middle of our beautiful city.

Noise insulation and double glazed windows are all there to ensure absolute comfort for hotel guests.

There are very good paintings along the corridors by local artists, which are for sale, and the National Hotel does not charge commission so is supporting our local creatives

The rooftop bar will officially open on Melbourne Cup Day but Karl Bullers told me that if the weather is fine next weekend he will give it a soft opening to see how it all goes.

It is a great new addition to Fremantle by an owner who has clearly got faith in Freo’s future.

Roel Loopers

This post is a community service and not an advertorial. I do not accept advertising, payment or gifts for my blog posts.

 

SPARE ME THE KINGS SQUARE SPIN

 

While I am always happy to be corrected when I am wrong in fact, and happy to correct mistakes I make on this blog, I am not impressed to be told by the City of Fremantle that I am wrong on the timeline for the Kings Square Redevelopment Project and that the City supposedly had been consistent in saying completion would be in 2020.

I got the articles below on Google from different sources, which confirms that what I published this morning is correct and that the City of Fremantle and Sirona Capital have stated that the project would be completed by the end of 2019.

Here some samples of publications about it:

Sirona Capital has appointed Australian tier-one contractor Probuild to deliver the Kings Square Fremantle project.

The $220 million Kings Square Fremantle project will deliver 25,800sqm of new commercial office and retail space to Fremantle’s CBD plus a new $50m administration and civic centre for the City of Fremantle.

Construction is expected to commence in August 2017 with completion due mid-2019.

And

Construction of the entire renewal project is expected to be completed in late 2019.

and more

The Kings Square revitalisation is the largest public-private infrastructure project in Fremantle’s history. It has been in motion for past six years, following Sirona’s acquisition of the Myer building in 2011. There is much excitement surrounding the project as it is expected to provide a much-needed boost to the local economy.

Construction is expected to be complete in late 2019.

and

On completion, more than 2000 people will be working in Kings Square, representing a 13% boost in the number of workers in the Fremantle city centre. This will include more than 1500 State Government employees who will relocate to Kings Square Fremantle from early 2020, following fit-out.

Construction of Kings Square Fremantle is expected to be completed in late 2019. State Government agencies will commence occupancy from early 2020.

 

I am happy to correct any mistakes I make, City of Fremantle, but please spare me the spin!

 

A pretty pissed off Roel Loopers