PORT DEBATE SHOULD NOT BE POLITICAL FOOTBALL

 

 

It is a shame that the future of Fremantle Port has become a political football with self interest groups battling it out.

There is another attack by the pro Liberal West Australian on Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt today and the Libs have also paid for a wrap around of the Fremantle Herald to tell us all how fantastic Roe 8 would be.

Let’s just pause and be clear about some of the issues here. First of all the Liberal party lost the last state election by a landslide and the Labor party had promised not to build Roe 8. Second is that the Perth Freight Link the Barnett government wanted never made it over the Swan River or dealt with the bottleneck in North Fremantle. It stopped at Stirling Highway and hence was not offering the solutions needed.

Traffic on Leach Highway is mainly general private traffic and not trucks to and from Fremantle Port, and truck movements to the port have decreased significantly the last year or so.

The Town of Kwinana and the Western Harbour Alliance are only promoting a new port at Kwinana for obvious reasons, while Fremantle wants the cake and eat it too by wanting to keep a working port but also developing Victoria Quay while reducing the traffic issues at North Fremantle and not inconveniencing residents along the railway line with more frequent container trains. They can’t have it all!

The MUA is only worried about wharfies losing jobs if a Kwinana Port is built because automisation at a new port would mean fewer jobs for MUA members.

Truck companies whinge about Leach Highway traffic because a new Kwinana Port would be mainly road based freight, according to the recent Westport Taskforce report, so that means more work and money for the road transport industry.

Those who fought for the Beeliar Wetlands seem a lot less concerned about the environmental impact on Cockburn Sound, and in general no one really talks about the impact massively increased freight traffic would bring to the Kwinana region and the residents there.

The political decision about Roe 8 has been made and the voters agreed with it, so the silly push by the Liberal party and West media is ignoring democracy. At the same time the City of Fremantle needs to start being pro-active about where to go when-it’s not if-Freo will lose its working port. It might still be 10-15 years away but it will happen, no matter how much the Mayor talks up the potential for Fremantle Port to handle a lot more containers.

In my opinion Fremantle will be a lot less attractive once it loses the vitality of the working port, but level headed discussions are needed and we need to be pragmatic and realistic about the options and opportunities. Making it all into a political football is silly, immature and unprofessional.

Roel Loopers

BIBLE MUSEUM FOR FREMANTLE PROPOSED

 

Could Fremantle become the new Mecca for Christians with a new Bible Museum?

I have been told that an application has been lodged with the City of Fremantle for a Bible Museum at Victoria Hall.

In an extensive document the applicants say the Bible Museum revolves around the Reid Family Bible Collection which has collated over 3,000 bibles and other biblical items over the past 40 years.

There would be a guided tour on mobile app and exhibitions in Chinese, Indian and other Asian languages. There are also bible translations in many Aboriginal languages.

The proponents say this would be a unique tourist attraction for Fremantle that would also attract many school groups.

To preserve historic Victoria Hall the displays would be free standing and not attached to the walls.

Some critics of Fremantle might well argue that Freo only will have a future with divine intervention, so a Bible Museum might just be the start.

Roel Loopers

FREO BUILDING APPROVALS WELL ABOVE THE WEST

 

While building approvals in Western Australia have almost halved in the last five years Fremantle is doing much better and is still going strong according to the latest statistics released, as the graphic shows.

Now hoping that all those development approvals will be realised fast into new great buildings, as some have been procrastinating. We are still waiting on the Hilton Double Tree hotel, the Woolstores hotel development and the Little Lane residential development which were approved a long time ago.

Roel Loopers

FOUR YEARS OF DELIGHTFUL STRANGE COMPANY

 

 

Strange Company is a gorgeous very Freo bar and one of my favourites, because it just has the right cosy feeling for me.  On Sunday August 25 it will be celebrating it’s fourth birthday and that will be a lot of fun from noon to midnight.

Festivities are happening all day long, with the much loved pop-up wood-fired pizza oven and alfresco bar kicking things off early from 12 midday

Live music will be flowing from 2.30pm all-the-way through till midnight including Justin Walshe Folk Machine, the Dave Brewer Band Deluxe Combo and a series of resident Strange DJ’s

There will also be plenty of free fun and games fit for the whole family, as the team behind the bar bring you a Sunday session in true ‘Carnie-Style’ including a photo booth, vintage circus staff and a popcorn machine for young and old to enjoy.

Strange Company is at 5 Nairn Street, Fremantle.

Roel Loopers

ROAD SAFETY FORUM IN FREMANTLE

 

 

Member for Fremantle Simone McGurk will be part of a forum on road safety that will be held on Monday August 26 from 6-7.45 pm at the South Fremantle Football Club at Fremantle Oval.

Have your say about what should be done to improve road safety for everyone.

Roel Loopers

FREO CITY SHOULD MANAGE ROUNDHOUSE

 

As the Fremantle Roundhouse volunteers embark on the biggest project ever with a $ 200,000 interpretive historic new display project it is urgent time for Fremantle Council to stop its arm’s length dealing with one of our most important tourist attractions and leaving it all to a small group of well-meaning amateurs.

While there is no issue with volunteers doing the day to day grind of opening the Roundhouse for visitors, the City should take over the management of the operations and be a very active part in the decisions of what the new displays will look like and what the historic content of it will be.

The Roundhouse is the oldest remaining public building in Western Australia and attracts around 150,000 visitors yearly, so it is a significant attraction for our city that needs to be managed professionally and by our local council.

The City of Fremantle has heritage experts who know more about the Roundhouse and Arthur’s Head than most people, so they should be involved dealing with the curator and designer instead of letting the volunteers make decisions on what will be a significant improvement of what the Roundhouse will offer tourists from all over the world, Australia, and local school groups.

Roel Loopers

 

 

WHY SHOULD FREMANTLE PAY FOR HIGH STREET UPGRADE?

 

The City of Fremantle has now taken possession of the FERN site at Montreal Street and golf course designers have been appointed to redesign the public golf course because the High Street Upgrade by Main Roads will be intruding into the current gold course.

The big question Fremantle ratepayers are now asking is who is paying for it all? Is Main Roads paying for the costly redesign and development work of the golf course or does Fremantle City need to find the money for it?

There were also talks that the City would be compensated for the loss of land, because of the widening of High Street at the golf course, and that a land swap would occur where Main Roads would give Fremantle land at Clontarf Hill, but nothing has progressed in that regard either.

Surely the State Government needs to compensate the City of Fremantle as the widening of High Street is all about getting freight to Fremantle Port faster and safer, and Fremantle Ports is very profitable, so let them be financially responsible for creating the new golf course.

Roel Loopers

SNOWBALL HELPS FREO HERITAGE APPEAL

 

 

I bumped into the City of Fremantle heritage officers and a lady from the Heritage Council this morning who were inspecting the repainted heritage facades along historic High Street, after the stunning Felice Varini yellow art work had created difficulties in removing it.

But out of a bad thing good things happened and other property owners, such as the Finishing Touch Gallery, also wanted to give the facades of their buildings a facelift, and the building next to the RSL club is now also getting a new coat of paint.

High Street has never looked better, so while the snowball effect has not been intentional it is certainly welcome!

Roel Loopers

FREO CITY SUPPORT FOR BUSINESSES

 

The City of Fremantle has committed to continue with the delivery of its Business Capacity Building Program after the successful pilot program earlier this year.

The program provides small businesses in Fremantle access to subsidised training, support and one-on-one mentoring.

The City will continue to partner with independent small business advocates Freo Now and local business support organisation Business Foundations.

The City has also teamed up with the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Council WA to diversify the support on offer and provide alternative ways for businesses to engage with the program. Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt said that there are lots of positive signs for Fremantle’s economy and some exciting developments on the horizon, but that the City recognises that it will take some time for small business to feel the benefits of it.

In recognition of the importance of growing the tourism sector, the City will be delivering three workshops facilitated by Tourism Council WA exclusively for Fremantle tourism businesses.

The workshops will focus on taking advantage of the global travel distribution system, which enables businesses to establish connections with wholesaler and travel agents to promote their products nationally and internationally.

The dates for the tourism workshops are still to be finalised but it’s likely they’ll be held in October, November and December this year.

Following a successful trial during the pilot period, the Fremantle Chamber of Commerce will deliver a series of ‘Set the Month in Motion’ workshops and podcasts throughout the year.

Fremantle Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Danicia Quinlan said the program would help small businesses to develop strategies to overcome the current economic headwinds.

In addition to mentoring and training, the Capacity Building Program also provides the Fremantle business community with access to the online grant portal, the Fremantle Funding Finder.

Powered by GrantGuru, the portal lists the grants and funding opportunities being offered by a range of agencies throughout Australia.

To apply for support through the Business Capacity Building Program or for information regarding upcoming workshops visit the Business Capacity Building page on the City of Fremantle website.

 

Roel Loopers

FUTURE FOCUS FORUM THIS WEDNESDAY

 

Fremantle Mayor Brad Pettitt just put this on his blog, so it is rather short notice as the event is TOMORROW, Wednesday August 21.

The evening will include a panel session on ‘planning for positive transformational change in a time of climate emergency’, a presentation on One Planet Living by Suzette Jackson, networking and refreshments.

Join us at our Future Focus Forum to:

• learn about one planet living impacts
• join the panel discussion on ‘planning for positive transformational change’
• network with like-minded colleagues

Wed 21 August 2019, 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm

Location –  Liv Apartments, 51 Queen Victoria Street Fremantle, WA 6160

Greg Ryan, Sustainability Manager, LandCorp

Sheldon Day, Yolk Property Group

Brad Pettitt, Mayor -City of Fremantle

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/our-future-focus-perth-tickets-64226597482