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Fremantle Society News
The Society (through a document prepared by Agnieshka Kiera) told me it wanted 'news' to be one of the items on its website. I guess this would have intended to be news about the Society's activities. I don't have access to such information, not being a member, so have instead put here items from the media, mainly from the local newspaper, the Fremantle Herald.
Fremantle Moves to Join DAP Revolt
Steve Grant, Fremantle Herald, 8 July 2016
FREMANTLE is poised to join other metropolitan councils in formally calling for the end of the state-controlled development assessment panels.
At a recent Fremantle Society dinner where Mosman Park mayor Norris and Subiaco councillor Julie Matheson outlined their councils’ objection to the DAPs, local councillor Rachel Pemberton pledged to put the issue before Fremantle.
Cr Pemberton confirmed to the Herald this week that staff were preparing the draft for the motion.
“Yes, we are using the motion passed by Vincent, Mosman Park and other councils as a basis but adding a part about our desire to encourage community-led design and see government investment in essential services infrastructure for communities that are willing to meet infill targets,” Cr Pemberton said.
The draft should be ready to go before the council’s finance and policy committee on July 20.
Cr Pemberton, who is a deputy for Fremantle’s position on the South West JDAP, said the system had added no value to Fremantle, and in fact had resulted in poorer outcomes.
Damage
“Yes, the recent DAP approval of the development on Queen Victoria Street is a classic example of where DAPs do more damage than good,” Cr Pemberton said.
“The DAP voted 3-2 to approve the DA, going against the unanimous recommendation of council and against the advice from the City of Fremantle planning staff in regards to the DA not meeting the scheme requirements.”
Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt was also critical of that decision, warning that unless the DAPs lifted their game they’d face further backlash. Already nine Perth councils have officially complained about the system.
Cr Pemberton says tight timeframes to meet DAP deadlines means some applications aren’t coming before the council’s planning committee so don’t get adequate scrutiny.
She said colleague Andrew Sullivan had great ideas to improve the Queen Victoria Street development’s facade, some of which were taken on board by the developer, but she says there wasn’t the time to flesh them out, which could have resulted in a more attractive streetscape.
Broader context
“The DAP also requires members to avoid being influenced by any matters other than strict planning codes. This means the broader context is sometimes overlooked.”
Cop Shop Markets?
Trilokesh Chanmugam, Fremantle Herald, 25 June 2016
BUSINESSMAN Gerard O'Brien has confirmed his company Silverleaf Investments recently bought the old Fremantle police station on Henderson Street.
The Herald has heard Mr O'Brien is planning a new hotel, bar and restaurant, markets and other businesses at the site, but he said he wasn't ready to confirm any plans yet.
'We've got a few options and we'll continue to work through it,' Mr O'Brien told the Herald.
'I don't want to say X and come out and do Y.
'By Christmas we'll have a plan sorted out,' he said.
Mr O'Brien says Silverleaf values the heritage of the 100-year-old complex, which was closed because of asbestos contamination and other maintenance problems that became too much for police to deal with.
Sunset to Push On
Trilokesh Chanmugam, Fremantle Herald, 25 June 2016
SUNSET EVENTS will push on with plans for a tavern at J-Shed after a knock-back from Fremantle council, but will consider scaling back to ease residents' concerns, says managing director David Chitty.
Mr Chitty says the company is still hopeful of a favourable ruling from the WA Planning Commission, which has final say.
At Wednesday's meeting, councillors backed a committee recommendation to refuse Sunset's application, despite staff recommending conditional approval.
A note to be sent to the WAPC says during a trial run, the company wasn't able to manage drunkenness and anti-social behaviour from concert-goers, rubbish and the risks from people falling off a nearby cliff.
Promised community events hadn't lived up to expectations while 'alcohol was the major sales push' at events, rather than a balanced mix of drinking/eating.
Noise levels
'We're obviously disappointed, but we respect the council's decision,' says Mr Chitty.
Artists working next door to the venue, and the Fremantle Inner City Residents Association claim noise levels at the four trial concerts reached up to 108dB and could have damaged people's ears.
FICRA also claims noise monitoring didn't take place at Marina Village where residents would have been most affected by the concerts.
In a submission to the council, FICRA convenor MaryRose Baker claimed 'noise levels vastly exceeded any permissible level, resulting in not only extreme discomfort to local artists and residents but also the Roundhouse guides and tourists.'
Mr Chitty denies the concerts exceeded the relevant guidelines.
'All the officers of Freo looked at the noise and recommended for it to be approved,' he says.
'Sometimes council can go against that recommendation which is what happened last night.'
Mr Chitty doesn't begrudge the neighbouring residents and artists for their complaints.
'I think they've got valid concerns. If I lived there I'd want to be comfortable, so I don't have any issue with people objecting', he says.
'If there's any issues with scale we're happy to have a conversation about that, and we still are.'
Mayor Gives DAPs a Blunt Assessment
Stephen Pollock & Steve Grant
FREMANTLE mayor Brad Pettitt has warned state-controlled development assessment panels to lift their game or face further backlash.
This week the metro south west DAP approved a six-level, $12 million development on Queen Victoria Street which Fremantle council had recommended be rejected, and that's got Dr Pettitt fuming.
The 1216sqm development, next to St Patrick's community support centre, includes 43 apartments, 73 car bays and a 120sqm commercial space with offices, shops, a small bar and a restaurant.
Fremantle councillors voted 9/1 against the application, arguing the height and style of the building — especially its facade — clashed with smaller heritage buildings in the area.
Artist's impression of The Foundry apartments.
'It's one of those 3-2 verdicts again, I'm afraid,' said Dr Pettitt, referring to the council's two elected representatives being outvoted by the state-appointed members of the DAP.
'The DAPs are in danger of shooting themselves in the foot if they don't start approving better density.'
The panels, which assess large development proposals, are already under fire from community groups and a growing number of councils who say they're being left to cop the flak over big, unpopular developments.
'My understanding is that they took a floor off as part of the negotiation, but our view was that because it's next to St Pat's and there's a number of heritage buildings around, that it should have had the appropriate sensitivity, which it doesn't,' Dr Pettitt said.
The Queen Victoria Street site is not on the city's heritage list.
Kings Square Deal 'Freo Inc'?
Steve Grant
WA premier Colin Barnett has reportedly compared aspects of Fremantle council's Kings Square development to WA Inc.
Fremantle Society president John Dowson is adamant the premier made the comment when the pair met last Friday to discuss Freo-related issues.
Mr Barnett doesn't deny making the comments, but says conversations with constituents are confidential. When the Herald specifically asked if he thought the council's involvement in the project was akin to WA Inc, his media team side-stepped the question.
Mr Dowson had taken the premier through a 37-page report outlining concerns the society has about the redevelopment, particularly valuations the council used to help unlock funding.
'I even double-checked with him that I could quote him, but he was looking extremely tired — it was the end of a week of long meetings and it was good of him to even meet with me,' Mr Dowson told the Herald.
He later circulated the comments to Fremantle Society members.
Mr Barnett later said his government was looking for a 'simple arrangement' to move the Housing department to Fremantle; 'someone that can build a building that is suitable and we will lease it'.
'Some of the proposals are quite complicated,' he says.
'That is a matter for the Fremantle city council, not a matter for the state government.'
On Wednesday the council voted to extend the contract with Sirona Capital, its Kings Square development partner, for another six months.
The extension was prompted by the WA government indicating a decision on moving the housing department may be made by August.
Cr Dave Coggin spoke passionately in defence of the council's business plan for the square, saying he and his colleagues had investigated it extensively — including a final briefing last week — and they were confident the figures were sound.
First-term councillor Jeff MacDonald lodged the only 'no' vote. He said he has doubts after listening to community concerns.
In the hours before the vote, councillors were CC'd into a threatening email from Fremantle Society member Richard Adams, the CEO of a debt collection agency
'Let me assure you that we will fully investigate the assets and liabilities of each and every one of those councillors involved in this once they move on it,' Mr Adams wrote to Mr Dowson.
'Just let us know when you'd like us to begin work.'
Cr Rachel Pemberton dismissed the threat: 'I am happy to disclose my personal finances, but I think they should take their concerns to the CCC if they think corruption is underway,' she told the Herald.
The council's deal has also attracted criticism from developer Gerard O'Brien, who wants Housing to set up at a redeveloped Woolstores Shopping Centre.
He's recently submitted plans for a 12-storey mixed use development at the site, including a 142-room hotel.
Mr O'Brien told the Herald the council has been doing a good job under mayor Brad Pettitt but he feels Kings Square could have been handled differently.
'I believe the sale process of three strategic sites in the city (Queensgate, Spicers and the car park) should have been more transparent and it should have been offered to the market the same as Point Street was for all parties to bid on.'
The issue for Mr O'Brien is that if the council has sold its properties to Sirona for less than market value, it would effectively mean he's competing with a council-subsidised bid.
'Remember these assets were purchased with Fremantle residents' rates and are public assets and we need to ensure any sale gets the best results for ratepayers,' Mr O'Brien said.
A Right Royal Stuff Up
John Dowson, Fremantle Herald, 22 April 2016
JOHN DOWSON is president of the Fremantle Society. In this week's THINKING ALLOWED he takes aim at the council's business plan for King's Square, saying it could financially cripple the city for years to come.
RATEPAYER assets built up over generations are in grave danger of being squandered by the Kings Square business plan. If it proceeds it will erode ratepayers' asset base by close to $50 million.
The Fremantle Society, the Fremantle Inner City Residents' Association and the Fremantle Ratepayers and Residents' Association all have long-held serious concerns about the financial validity of the plan but have been refused access to key documents since October 2014.
In 2012 the City of Fremantle signed the King's Square business plan with developer Sirona Capital to revitalise Fremantle and keep Myer in town. The plan has done neither.
‘Financial suicide'
The plan was promoted in council ads as 'the most anticipated urban renewal program in Fremantle's history' (Herald November 20, 2012). Three weeks later former mayor Peter Tagliaferri warned, ‘this would be financial suicide if the city embarked down this path' (Herald December 15, 2012).
The agreement between the City of Fremantle and Sirona expires on May 10, 2016. The agreement has already been extended once at the CEO's discretion, and it is likely it will be extended again at this month's council meeting on April 27. It should not be.
The Fremantle Society has secured independent advice regarding the assumptions the City of Fremantle has hidden behind to fabricate its artificial positive net present value (NPV) for this project. Amongst other things, the advice confirms, 'it is unbelievable to think that someone could or would state that a building (not building and land) would appreciate over a 20 year period'.
The independent advice obtained from the licensed practising valuer states:
'1) The residual valuation of the buildings in year 20 can not be reasonable and is not a sound assumption for this Kings Square Project (KSP). 2) The 20 year future estimate at $97.5 million for buildings which cost $47.44 million today is absurd.'
Without this assumption, the Kings Square business plan financial analysis collapses from a slightly positive NPV to a $30 million loss to ratepayers.
To fund this project, the council is intending to sell approximately $50 million of property to Sirona for just $29 million. The losses on the sale of valuable City of Fremantle property assets are not factored into the council's analysis. Combine the two, and this project creates a black hole that erodes close to $50 million of ratepayer value.
The business plan misleads ratepayers, and those responsible must be held to account.
Peter Tagliaferri again broke cover last year (Herald, May 29, 2015) to warn that the council's plans for King's Square were: 'crazy, seriously,' and a 'disaster waiting to happen'.
While it is an exciting prospect that the Department of Housing may finally be making a decision to come to Fremantle, the project should not destroy ratepayer assets in the process nor damage Kings Square by building a new administrative building there and turning the square into a claustrophobic triangle surrounded by large buildings. There are other locations for the mayor, councillors, and staff.
Only 10 years ago the council spent $50,000 examining, through the Urban Design Centre, the best outcomes for King's Square.
True urban square
Its report concluded that Fremantle deserved: 'a true urban square- of appropriate size and dignity to anchor the heart of Fremantle … this is the concept that speaks to the City's confidence in its future … and refuses to bow to the short term exigencies of a conservative marketplace. It celebrates the original structure of the space.'
The Fremantle Society's vision emphasises the prime importance of Kings Square — opening it up by removing the aged administration building, relocating staff into a refurbished Queensgate centre, and avoiding the unacceptable risk to ratepayer assets.
We need to learn from previous council projects at the Queensgate centre and Westgate Mall, which were financial disasters. The Kings Square business plan is much larger and financially riskier, and it is time for Fremantle's elected members to listen to the people they represent.
Groups Demand Square Rethink
Steve Grant, Fremantle Herald, 22 April 2016
ABOUT 170 members of three Fremantle community organisations met Wednesday evening, calling on the council to rethink its Kings Square plans.
Following a presentation by commercial adviser Martin Lee, who claims the council will be $30 million out of pocket if it goes ahead with the deal, members of the Fremantle Society, residents and ratepayers, and inner city residents associations unanimously called for the council not to extend its agreement with developer Sirona.
The agreement lapses in May but the council is expected to approve a second extension this week. Mayor Brad Pettitt says an announcement on a government department moving to Fremantle seems imminent, so it would be silly to jettison the plan now.
He criticised the society for withholding an independent valuation it had commissioned on the project, which provided a less rosy view of the project than the council's business plan.
'As I have said to them, the Fremantle council bases its decisions on the advice of experts in this complex area and they will need to provide this information to be credible.'
He says if the project goes ahead, it will mean 1100 construction jobs, major public art, a new library and civic facilities and new retailers.
Dr Pettitt claims the Kings Square project alone will generate an additional $100 million in 'retail spend', turning the CBD into a magnet for other businesses.
At the meeting, Mr Lee said the council had breached its own investment policy by agreeing to the deal and accused it of mishandling its reserves.
Following his presentation, the groups voted to ask the council to get the business plan independently reviewed, with input from the public helping form the terms of reference.
They also wanted a separate business case prepared for three properties set to be sold to Sirona to pay for a portion of the council's side of the project.
Hougo Appeal
Fremantle Herald, 9 April 2016
THE owners of the Hougoumont Hotel in Fremantle have taken their bid to get a five-storey extension to the powerful but unelected state administrative tribunal.
The local DAP deferred a decision on the extension in January because it wanted Red Rock Consolidated to check its overshadowing on rear neighbours.
One neighbour had challenged the developers' diagrams with their own, which claimed a greater impact on their property. But the delay ended up allowing Red Rock the opportunity to claim it as a refusal, which it has done.
After SAT-ordered mediation between the DAP and Red Rock, the DAP was 'invited' to reconsider its decision on the basis a review of the neighbour's plans had found they were based on outdated data.
Fremantle council, which has no power in the matter, had opposed the plan as its West End conservation policy only permits a fourth storey if it is setback from the street. Red Rock's project is set hard against Bannister Street and seeks additional height as a 'loft'.
=== Society to Fight Demolition
===
Fremantle Herald, 1 April 2016, p. 8
THE Fremantle Society will formally oppose the demolition of the 1920s Port Stationery building at 75 High Street in Fremantle's West End.
The society's committee decided to back a council report of 2011 that alterations to the building have been 'compatible', despite president John Dowson last week describing them as 'damaging': 'The Fremantle Society … agrees with the original assessment that the place, despite its altered form, has exceptional and significant elements,' the society said in a submission to Fremantle council. The society wants the council to hold off any demolition approval until it's received replacement development plans.
The building was first occupied by tailors Jenkins and Co, and has housed the Liberals, Archie Martin Vox and local luminaries including artist Marcus Beilby.
=== Heritage Gong for Council's Alan Kelsall
===
Fremantle Herald, 1 April 2016, p. 8
FREMANTLE council's heritage co-ordinator Alan Kelsall has picked up a gong at WA's top heritage awards.
Mr Kelsall took out the award for his professional contribution to the state's heritage, particularly his ability to marry adaptation with conservation in order to give old buildings new life.
'This dedicated professional has been instrumental in assisting the City of Fremantle and its elected representatives to develop and deliver a new positive vision for heritage,' the WA Heritage Council's judges said.
The decision is likely to be controversial in heritage circles, with Fremantle Society president John Dowson calling some of Mr Kelsall's decisions 'alarming', particularly the use of corrugated iron at the old FTI building and the Fremantle Arts Centre, and the replacement of copper piping with plastic.
The Fremantle Prison youth backpackers picked up an award for heritage tourism product, while the National Hotel won a commendation for contribution by a private organisation.
'After almost being destroyed by fire, the restoration and conservation of the National Hotel is a credit to its committed owner (Karl Bullers) who went above and beyond what was expected, and adhered to best practice heritage conservation to return this landmark hotel to the Fremantle Community,' the judges said.
A Chance to Set our Heritage Right
Agnieshka Kiera, Fremantle Herald, 19 March 2016, p. 5
AGNIESHKA KIERA is a former heritage architect with the Fremantle council and a member of the Fremantle Society. In this week's THINKING ALLOWED she outlines why the society thinks the state's heritage office should reconsider the boundaries and name of the historic section of the port city being considered for state heritage listing.
IT seems everybody in Fremantle is excited about the pending listing of the city's heritage area on the state heritage register.
In this respect Fremantle's cultural capital is rich: the largest number of heritage-listed places and areas in WA (3018), the only city in WA with a World Heritage cultural site, and the top tourist destination.
It has taken the city years to prepare the nomination, so it's important to get it right — a rare opportunity to unite and support the proposed listing.
Yet, again Fremantle is divided. So what is the division is about?
Despite statutory evidence to the contrary, Fremantle council chose and negotiated with the WA heritage office a nomination of a fragment of the historic centre — the West End.
In accordance with the well-researched and documented evidence, the Fremantle Society is advocating nomination of the whole historic core, including the town hall, railway station, Fremantle Markets and Arthur Head — the so-called Fremantle historic town.
The society is using the statutorily prescribed consultation to promote the listing of the whole historic core rather than only its arbitrarily determined bit.
There's no surprise heritage is highly contested; it's shades of grey. It's not a mathematical science, so whoever is expressing an opinion could be right.
Importantly, appreciation of the city's heritage is not an exclusive right of politicians or bureaucrats. This is why the nomination process specifies a rigorous and comprehensive heritage evaluation.
In 2011 the City of Fremantle initiated the nomination process, commissioning heritage and conservation professionals to research, evaluate and define the area's significance. The report arrived at a comprehensive statement of significance and curtilage of the historic town of Fremantle.
Yet the heritage office, using the same report, has arbitrarily reduced the nominated area. Neither the city nor heritage office offered any compelling expert evaluation to support this reduction.
The office's website includes the undertaking: 'together we work with the community to recognise and celebrate our significant heritage places, and to promote their long-term viability into the future, through sensitive development and adaptation'.
This is an important commitment, because there is more at stake in heritage listing than a statutory recognition of the area's significance.
Listing would give owners and the city opportunities to seek heritage funding, make heritage agreements, ensuring harmony of new development within and around the listed area, including curtilage, landscaping and public spaces.
Even more importantly the WA heritage act requires all this be done as part of the management plan for the listed area prior to development taking place. So the statutory listing of an area would form a base for translating heritage listing into the planning standards and controls,
That provides a framework for development within the area.
The current, generic, local planning scheme's zoning and height controls offer no such mechanism as there is no design process to inform the outcome prior to development.
Instead it provides a framework for developer-led growth adjacent to the heritage area.
The only opportunity for the city and state to intervene is to slightly moderate aspects of the proposed development after a proposal is submitted.
It is this part of the planning process that currently generates so much uncertainty and conflict between developers, authorities and community.
Listing of the larger area would provide a transition zone around the West End to protect its integrity while the reduced area offers no such transition.
In this respect it is the Fremantle Society's proposal that would ensure good heritage outcomes, not the city's nominated reduced area.
WA's prevailing culture is that heritage stands in the way of development.But developer-led development is based on what's most profitable and rarely takes into consideration an area's unique and important characteristics, let alone using heritage to inform their creative design option.
There are many reasons for celebrating shared heritage in Fremantle and it is important for the decision makers to ensure the procedural fairness and transparency regarding nominated area. The heritage office's call for submission on the nomination gives the community opportunity to express and stand by its heritage, particularly by people who live and work here and are committed to the city long term.
Demolition Derby for Fremantle's West End?
Roger Garwood, blog, 15 March 2016
Will Fremantle's West End be threatened by property owners wishing to demolish buildings before they become protected by legislation?
Robert Bodkin, of Bodkins Bootery fame, has alerted the Fremantle Society to the demolition application for a building within the West End precinct. The building, 75 High Street, is the office supply shop opposite Bodkin's iconic establishment.
To be demolished? This building in one of the most pristine architectural enclaves in the world could face demolition. No plans are yet proposed to replace it.
Bodkin is a committee member of the Fremantle Society which is rapidly recovering from five years of inadequate management, quickly regaining its position as an active supporter of conservation and high quality development.
He points out that a demolition application has been put before council but no plans have been submitted for a building to replace it. This is a situation which could result in a long term Mexican Standoff similar to that hovering over the King's Square redevelopment which has been languishing for six years.
Apparently the owners claim the building is beyond restoration, that it has no notable features and they also note the verandah is missing.
It is likely that this application will be a test for both the council and the Fremantle Society but until plans for a replacement are submitted, and should demolition be approved, it becomes difficult to make a valued judgment.
There has been a trend to add height within existing precincts, not to mention some appalling architecture. A clear example is redevelopment of Attwell Arcade.
Power Grab Neuters Elected Councils
Steve Grant, Fremantle Herald, 12 March 2016, p. 1.
NEW powers granted to state government planning bureaucrats have locally elected councils up in arms.
Councils say the changes — introduced by the Barnett government in November — mean they no longer have any control over the density of new developments.
That authority has been handed to unelected bureaucrats in the WA planning commission, who are unaccountable to the affected communities.
“The ability for local governments to determine whether a structure plan is in the best interests of the community is now non-existent,” is how Cockburn council planning boss Daniel Arndt bluntly described the impact to the Herald.
“Whereas the city previously could impose a pre-requisite test to determine whether a structure plan complied with orderly and proper planning prior to advertising, the new process means the city has little input into the quality or appropriateness of structure plans.
“The local government’s role has been reduced to simply a referral agency.”
Residents who could previously call their local councillor to object to subdivisions must now try to navigate their way to an unelected and faceless bureaucrat in the WAPC’s Perth city headquarters.
The new rules were implemented in November and their impact is already being felt. Last August, Cockburn council rejected an application by MW Urban to amend a structure plan of three lots inside Port Coogee. The developer wanted to rezone some of the parcel from R25 to R40.
At the time, deputy mayor Kevin Allen flayed both developers and the WA government over the litany of broken promises at Port Coogee.
“I accept that most developments are dynamic,” he’d railed. “However, this development seems to be more dynamic than most and the changes that are occurring in my opinion and in the opinion of many of our ratepayers are not for the best.
“Proponents within Port Coogee have used statutory bodies such as the WAPC and SAT to make substantial changes to gold-plated commitments they made to the council of the day.
“The community has lost its fishing platforms with all ability access, the groyne walls were supposed to be perfectly flat for the community to walk along and enjoy strolls whilst taking in the view, the bandstand/ concert stages have disappeared.
“The proponents have treated this development like an onion and are peeling back commitment after commitment or promise after promise and our prize-winning onion will now be lucky to make it to the pickling jar.”
The council rejected the rezoning bid but following the November change, MW Urban has resubmitted the same plan—which will now be determined by the WAPC, not the council.
Neighbouring Fremantle council also objected to the new rules but says the WAPC has always had some power in determining structure plans: its criticisms appear far more muted than Cockburn’s.
“In submissions made by the City of Fremantle when local governments were consulted on the new regulations in their draft form in early 2015, the city expressed some concern that certain aspects … could erode the ability of local governments to take account of distinctive local character and patterns of development…,” strategic planning manager Paul Garbett told the Herald.
Mr Garbett says the blueprint for the old Matilda Bay Brewery site in North Fremantle falls under the new planning regime, as its structure plan was lodged in January. The council conducted the consultation and will make a recommendation to the WAPC, but the planning authority is under no obligation to follow Fremantle’s advice.
Fremantle Herald, 4 March 2016, p. 3, quoting President John Dowson speaking at the Federal Hotel Thursday 3 March.
Dowson Claim Debunked
Steve Grant, Fremantle Herald, 19 February 2016
THE State Heritage Office has flat-out denied Fremantle council was given any encouragement to pursue a state listing for the West End taking in Kings Square or Arthur Head.
The claim has been repeatedly made by Fremantle Society president John Dowson and former council heritage architect Agnieshka Kiera, most recently at a society forum last week where members voted to ask the WA Heritage Council to expand the proposed boundaries.
Mr Dowson told the crowd mayor Brad Pettitt had pushed a smaller footprint through council despite the heritage office encouraging a wider listing.
A long-time critic of Dr Pettitt, the veteran heritage advocate said the mayor was trying to make life easier for developers, particularly around Kings Square.
But Dr Pettitt countered with a hawkish response that the proposed area from Market Street to the railway line was the most intact and legible example of gold rush architecture. He said that view had been backed by the heritage office's support.
Mr Dowson's suspicions had been fuelled earlier in the week by an embarrassing gaffe from heritage office director of assessment and registration Penny O'Connor, who'd inadvertently included him in a reply to her boss Graeme Gammie.
Mr Dowson had asked for a copy of a resolution of the council's register committee about the West End, but Dr O'Connor advised Mr Gammie it not be given 'as it might open up a can of worms'.
She later told the Herald she wasn't intending to deliberately withhold information from Mr Dowson, claiming the council didn't usually release committee minutes except to directly involved landowners.
She'd provided the 'can of worms' advice because the heritage office wanted to be 'moving forward, not looking backward' over the listing and the committee hadn't been asked to provide an opinion.
But she did provide the Herald with a copy of the resolution, which backs her claim no heritage office support is indicated for the wider boundaries that Fremantle council had previously submitted for preliminary comment.
There was also a lot of social media chat about Australian Heritage Council chair Carmen Lawrence's speech to the forum, fuelled by media reports she'd opposed the society's position.
But Dr Lawrence had simply trod a diplomatic line, not offering an opinion on the boundaries but outlining why careful development in heritage precincts was important because radical changes can destroy the sense of self, place and belonging in long-term residents.
West End Heritage Precinct
The President, John Dowson, called a Public Meeting to discuss the proposed State Heritage listing for the West End Heritage Precinct, Thursday 11 February, Kidogo Arthouse, Bathers Bay.
It was resolved by the meeting of Fremantle Society members to support the nomination of a larger area, including the Historic Town Centre, for the State Heritage Register instead of the much reduced area of the West End proposed by the Fremantle City Council.
The meeting at the Kidogo: speakers Carmen Lawrence and Agnieshka Kiera front right
Lawrence to Front West End Forum
Steve Grant, Fremantle Herald, 6 February 2016, p. 6
CARMEN LAWRENCE will speak at a public meeting that's been called to challenge the boundaries of the proposed heritage listing of Fremantle's West End.
The former WA Labor premier and federal Fremantle MP now chairs the Australian Heritage Council. The Fremantle Society-organised meeting is 7pm, Thursday February 11 at Kidogo Arthouse, Bathers Beach.
'The area put forward by the current council does not protect the original layout of the historic town which is part of its heritage and significance,' society president John Dowson says.
'Heritage listing by the State Heritage Office gives recognition to places and allows more places to apply for a grant from a meagre pool of money available.'
The WA heritage council has recommended the listing start at Market Street, based on a recommendation by the Fremantle council, but the society wants to rope Kings Square, Arthur Head and the train station into the protected precinct.
Mayor Brad Pettitt challenges Mr Dowson's claim the council is ignoring its own expert committee by recommending the smaller area. Dr Pettitt says the area put forward was the final recommendation of the West End Working Group.
The working group had been angling for the larger listing when Mr Dowson, a former deputy mayor, and former council heritage architect Agnieshka Kiera were members, but Mr Dowson was not reappointed when the committee was reformed and Ms Kiera resigned, apparently unhappy at the council's direction, before the final boundaries recommendation was made.
From the Fremantle Society website, 30 January 2016:
Heritage Listing of the ‘West End'
Fremantle's heritage is a key economic asset that requires proper recognition that would facilitate adequate and ongoing investment in its protection.
The proposed listing of just the area west of Market Street to Little High Street by the State Heritage Office as a ‘place' shows a failure of Fremantle Council to follow the advice of its own committee and $35,000 expert report. A committee was set up in 2009 to progress the State Heritage listing, thus protection, for the West End Conservation Area as defined in policies going back 26 years.
The West End Committee, a broad group representing business and council and community, recommended that the area to be listed be the whole of the West End Conservation Area which includes King's Square, while omitting the already World Heritage listed Fremantle Prison, but adding the Railway Station. That agreement accepted the findings of the experts' $35,000 report. At the time that recommendation had preliminary State Heritage Office support.
Fremantle Council have chopped that area in half and put at risk the future of what is Fremantle's greatest economic asset — its heritage.
Listing only half of what the experts recommend is like putting half a roof on a house.
The Fremantle Society wants the proposed area to be expanded to cover the West End Conservation Area minus the Prison, along with the Railway Station (and Arthur Head), and thus have resolved to ask the State Heritage Office to review the current process.
Heritage Listing by the State Heritage Office gives recognition to places and allows more places to apply for a grant from a meagre pool of money available.
While heritage listing shows the importance of a place, it matters little if the State Heritage Office are weak and do not support the heritage values ascribed. State Heritage Office weakness was shown when they approved the overscaled ING proposal for Victoria Quay despite the area being listed by them as a heritage precinct since 1999. That development did not proceed for financial reasons. State Heritage Office weakness was also shown when they raised no objections to disastrously insensitive developments now going up at Atwell Arcade and 8 Packenhan Street in the West End Conservation Area.
The Fremantle Society will not stand by and see our future prosperity damaged by a lack of safeguards for the valuable heritage of our city centre.
Author: John Dowson [President of the Fremantle Society]
John Dowson was a City of Fremantle Councillor. He lives in the former headquarters of the Adelaide Steamship Company, a building in the West End that he won an award for restoring. He has been a teacher of English and History all his life, in Australia, the USA, England, and France. John was elected Deputy Mayor of the City of Fremantle in 2005 and again in 2007.
Two-year delay for Freo’s Hilton
Kate Emery, West Australian, 1 February 2016
Plans for a new Hilton hotel in Fremantle have been delayed by two years after protracted talks over design and heritage with the City of Fremantle.
In a blow to plans to revitalise Fremantle, which is also facing delays over its $270 million Kings Square development, the 150-room DoubleTree Hilton is not expected to open until 2019.
The seven-storey hotel overlooking Princess May Park — plans for which were announced in 2014 — was to have been completed by next year. Hilton and its partner SKS Group tweaked the original design, replacing a ground-floor supermarket with a food hall.
The partners' amended development application was approved by the City, but they are yet to submit a building permit application.
The hotel is one of two Hiltons planned for WA under its family-friendly DoubleTree brand. The other is at Elizabeth Quay.
SKS general manager Francis Foong attributed the delay to 'extended discussions' with the council's design assessment panel and heritage committee.
'SKS also lodged an amended DA to change the use of 2000sqm of ground floor from supermarket to food arcade,' he said.
A council spokesman said that its design advisory committee had to consider the plans 'several times' for design issues to be resolved.
'The majority of design issues related to character, quality of public realm and overall design quality and functionality,' he said.
'The applicant was able to apply for a building permit after the January 2014 approval was issued so that construction could commence —for example, on the basement — while the other design matters were being resolved. The City has yet to receive a building permit application for the site.'
Fremantle is trying to reverse years of economic decline after largely sitting out the boom that transformed much of the Perth CBD. The Hilton is expected to help overhaul Fremantle's east end.
Shingle Bingle
Steve Grant, Fremantle Herald, 29 January 2016
FREMANTLE council's decision to replace faux shingles on the Fremantle Arts Centre with corrugated iron has heritage experts howling.
Long-retired council architect Rob Campbell, who in the late 1960s convinced then-mayor Sir Frederick Samson to save the centre from demolition and then worked on its restoration, says he's sorry to see the council's latest 'essay in maintenance'.
'The material that it replaces was, in 1970, a compromise as it was then not possible to obtain shingles in the quantities required, but the compromise did at least attempt to replicate the colour and texture of the original to maintain the architectural integrity of the whole,' Mr Campbell told the Herald.
Council heritage co-ordinator Alan Kelsall says the old roofing contained asbestos and required replacement to protect public health. The new galvanised iron sheets will also make the roof watertight.
'The use of galvanised corrugated iron sheeting is in keeping with the early practice of using it on buildings, including the arts centre, to provide additional water tightness to timber shingled roofs,' Mr Kelsall says.
'The new roof sheeting will have minimal impact on the existing timber structure and will also allow for the reinstatement of timber shingles in the future if the opportunity arises.'
The Fremantle Arts Centre's new tin roof (right) hasn't impressed some heritage advocates who say it's too far a departure from the shingles (left).
Mr Kelsall says there's certainty with tin the roof won't leak, which is not the case with replications.
'It is considered that the predicted overall benefits of the use of galvanised roof sheeting will substantially outweigh any perceived loss of heritage values.'
Fremantle Society president John Dowson sides with Mr Campbell, labelling the re-roofing 'damaging'.
'The roof being replaced was put there by Rob Campbell when he did the restoration of the arts centre in 1972,' Mr Dowson says.
'He spent a year engineering a copy of the original shingles, genuine shingles then being too expensive.
'Now genuine shingles are easier to get, but if they are too expensive then facsimiles should be used, not glaring large sheets of tin, the cheap and lazy way out.
'Many people regard the Fremantle Arts Centre as their favourite building in Fremantle; it has soul, tranquility and a brooding atmosphere, despite its grim early history.
Mr Dowson says he and former council heritage architect Agnieshka Kiera were devastated to learn this week the Turnbull government had rejected an application to have the centre included on the national heritage list. Ms Kiera had lodged the application when employed by the council.
West End Win
Steve Grant, Fremantle Herald online
FREMANTLE'S West End is a step closer to being added to the state's heritage register.
The State Heritage Office sent letters to 400 landowners and tenants this week saying it intended to list the area bounded by Market and Collie streets, Marine Terrace and a line roughly following the railway tracks from Bathers Beach back to the train station.
SHO executive officer Graeme Gammie told the Herald listing strengthens the precinct's heritage protection as development assessment panels must abide by heritage council recommendations (DAPs, which have the authority to approve major developments, can ignore the advice of local councils like Fremantle).
Mr Gammie says the West End stretches across 200,000sqm and includes 250 buildings, making it the largest-ever addition to the state register, and notes it is long-overdue.
'It's a no-brainer,' he says. 'The West End has such an important story to tell about the state's early history and development, and displays the exuberance of the gold boom era when Fremantle was a thriving port town.'
Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt and WA heritage council executive officer Graeme Gammie say listing the West End is a long overdue no-brainer. Photo by Steve Grant
Mr Gammie says the main benefits of listing are statewide recognition of the West End’s cultural significance, access to grants and a business advantage for proprietors savvy enough to research their building, rustle up a story about a ghost and talk up their heritage cred.
Fremantle council recommended the listing and mayor Brad Pettitt says it will build on the vibe that’s developed along High Street. “I think the West End is the most vibrant and dynamic precinct in the city,” he told the Herald.
With negotiations firming for Notre Dame to re-open many of its High Street buildings’ ground floors to retailers, the mayor reckons the West End’s future is bright. “Inclusion on the state heritage register would not only provide the recognition the area deserves, it can also help unlock further potential for economic growth in a place that was the epicentre for commerce for much of Fremantle’s history.”
The mayor says businesses such as the National Hotel and Bread in Common demonstrate how sensitive adaptations can offer a business edge.
But the Fremantle Society is unhappy the council ignored the recommendation of its own West End committee to include Kings Square, the Fremantle Prison and the train station in the listing.
“Fremantle council have chopped that area in half and put at risk the future of what is Fremantle’s greatest economic asset — it’s heritage,” society president John Dowson told the Herald. The society resolved at a meeting Tuesday night to ask the SHO to review the process.
“While heritage listing shows the importance of a place, it matters little if the State Heritage Office are weak and do not support the heritage values ascribed,” says Mr Dowson, an award-winning historian-author and former deputy mayor. “State Heritage Office weakness was shown when they approved the overscaled ING proposal for Victoria Quay, despite the area being listed by them as a heritage precinct since 1999.”
Mr Gammie says the heritage council conducted its own inquiry into the West End listing, and came up with the same boundaries as Freo.
He says owners’ consent will be vital to convince WA heritage minister Albert Jacob to approve the listing. If all goes to plan the West End could be listed by August.
Website by Garry Gillard.
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally hosted at freotopia.org/society/news.html, and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.