25/10/2026
The Great Betrayal - Again?
(20 years ago the community was betrayed when a certain group interfered with the council's most important document - its Town Planning Scheme- by removing height controls and nightclub controls. Betrayal could happen again unless council defer the item on Wednesday. Below is the letter sent to all councillors - with not a single response yet).
WA basically has few heritage towns - Albany, Kalgoorlie, York, and Fremantle stand out . Can you imagine driving down York Street in Albany to the harbour and seeing a 15 storey block of apartments on York Street, or on the main streets of Kalgoorlie? But councillors are proposing numerous 15 storey buildings in the C*D of the heritage town of Fremantle.
Dear Councillors
Earlier this year the Fremantle Society offered to help with the new town planning scheme when asked, by paying thousands of dollars with its own funds to bring a national planning expert to Fremantle to write a report.
The Richard Mackay report was presented to a large public audience and then to councillors individually, excepting one who would not respond. The report was widely acclaimed.
The key suggestions were a) appoint an expert to oversee the TPS 5 process and b) to offset stronger protection for the West End heritage area, offer increased heights to developers elsewhere in the municipality, where it would not affect heritage.
Both suggestions have been ignored.
You have allowed a town planning scheme to be completed without:
a) a Town Planning Director to direct it
b) without an expert to oversee it
c) without keeping the increased heights well away from sensitive heritage sites using some of the potential large sites elsewhere in the municipality. Far too much of the C*D is being rezoned, and at too great a scale.
What you currently intend to put to council on 28th October to then be sent to WAPC and the minister is a total betrayal of your responsibilities to protect and enhance what is a world famous city.
It not only does not add any further protection to the West End, but it destroys forever the unified human scale of the C*D area with endless sites rezoned without justification.
Richard Mackay was contacted and said:
"I am in strong agreement with you that the proposed increased height/density controls represent a major threat to the fundamental heritage values of the City of Fremantle and that now is the time to act; before there is any public exhibition – because at that time the politicians become wedded to ideas, irrespective of what the public feedback actually suggests.
I am also strongly supportive of the strategy you have outlined below."
The strategy outlined to Richard after workshopping with experts in WA and eastern states is:
a) Defer the council item till the end of January to allow:
(i) an expert heritage report be commissioned to assess the proposed heights in the C*D
(ii) councillors and community to be better informed about the implications of all sections of LPS 5.
(iii) staff to provide justification for increased heights.
A similar great betrayal of the public occurred with the previous LPS 4 twenty years ago. New councillors, Lauder and Dowson, were alerted by a senior officer at WAPC that Fremantle Council's new town planning scheme was on their desk, but height and nightclub controls had been removed. A council investigation led to them being reinstated.
There is no need for another betrayal.
John Dowson
President
The Fremantle Society
0409 223622
[email protected]
Contact Fremantle Councillors: [email protected]
