Fremantle Western Australia, a working port for almost 130 years. A working class area for the majority of that time.
Bedraggled and forgotten for many years.
When Australia won the America’s Cup in 1983, Australia earned the right to be hosts for the 26th America’s Cup.
The race took place at Gage Roads off Fremantle Western Australia.
Fremantle was spruced up with millions of dollars spent to make the place “presentable” on the world stage.
Australia lost the defense of the cup and Fremantle fell into disrepair once more.
Fremantle has long been home to artists, musicians, bohemians, immigrants and the everyday people giving Fremantle it’s culture, soul and vibrancy.
With this vibrancy and soul, Fremantle came to be seen as a trendy place to live. Monied people started buying into the scene, “gentrification” was the catch cry.
These monied people had their own ideas as to the direction Fremantle should be heading.
Trendy cafes along South Terrace started to proliferate. Smaller shop keepers were priced out as rents began to rise.
Derelict buildings were converted into high end apartments that only the “monied” people could afford.
These same monied people began complaining about the “riff raff” who were prominent on the streets after dark. These monied people began complaining about the many “Live Music” venues. Noise complaints came thick and fast until many live music venues were shut down.
The “Monied People” got their way. Fremantle was sterilised so the “gentrified” could walk their dogs to the “cappuccino strip” without having to come into contact with the riff raff.
This week a proposal was presented to council to redevelop the Fremantle Oval which is situated right alongside the “Strip”
The proposal is to build two residential towers within the confines of the oval. 240 apartments in the two towers. One 8 stories high, the other 9 stories high.
The development would include affordable and social housing in the make-up.
The proposal has caused friction with many of the wealthy residents.
A quote from one of these residents; There is enough affordable housing, we have too many issues with antisocial behaviour, drug and alcohol problems, dirty, smelly streets, not enough toilets. Affordable housing should not be build in this precinct, it will devalue our properties.
There it is NIMBY, let’s not worry about all those homeless people, let’s not worry about single parents being forced out onto the street because of rising rents, let’s not worry about senior citizens forces to live in their cars, or tents because there is not enough affordable housing.
Let’s only worry about how much profit I can make when I sell my million dollar apartment
These wealthy people do not want to live in the “real” world. They want an idyll existence centered around them and theirs.
I honestly hope the majority of Fremantle residents give this proposal the green light, not to spite the wealthy, but to look out for those who only want a place they can call home.
I have an issue with building on green space in urban areas. Once it is gone it is gone for ever.
We live on a continent the size of the USA but with a tenth of the population surely there are other places to build? Nothing wrong with urban sprawl. The nice thing about Australian cities is that viewed from a distance they look green, let’s not spoil than by filling in every green space with housing.
Green spaces are precious and should be preserved in cities.
I have received a response from those in charge of the Fremantle Oval Redevelopment Masterplan.
Thank you for taking the time to get in contact with us regarding the Fremantle Oval Redevelopment Masterplan, and apologies for the delay in responding to your enquiry. My colleague Kavi Gu**ta and I form the Community Engagement team here at the City and we are now both back on deck after the holiday period. We ran the public engagement for the Fremantle Oval redevelopment project and in the process heard from many community members who emphasised the need for affordable and low-cost housing in the inner Fremantle area – including in the Oval precinct.
Public feedback gathered during the first round of engagement for the Draft Masterplan showed community support for residential development within the Fremantle Oval precinct and hence the aim of “Providing essential mixed-use housing” as part of this redevelopment has been incorporated into the final Fremantle Oval Redevelopment Masterplan document, which was approved by Council on November 27, 2024.
The adopted Masterplan provides the framework for the project to be developed in more detail and will be used to support continuing engagement with State and Federal government via an advocacy plan, to help secure funding commitments and guide ongoing project planning. This is where the project currently lies, in an election year where the City is trying to negotiate and secure as much funding for the project as possible.
The aim and ability to incorporate mixed-use and affordable housing has not changed, but will be contingent on the funding commitments that are awarded, community feedback on the eventual Fremantle Oval Concept Masterplan that will be produced, as well as the business case review that is scheduled for March this year.
I encourage you to subscribe to our Community Engagement newsletter, where updates on this project will be shared.
Nobody wants to live in these tower blocks. They have sprung up all over London because councils receive a juicy levy each time from the developer. The plans go through contingent on the fact that there is a % social housing element. In reality once this is built many social housing schemes disappear or the expensive flats remain empty. Ordinary people with little money prefer to live in normal looking streets and houses.
We had something called prefabs after WWII and these were meant to be a temporary cheap housing solution. Many were still standing 70 years later and many people loved them. A few in Birmingham are protected from demolition. I remember whole streets in Birmingham full of prefabs. After much debate they were demolished about 20 years ago and replaced will small new builds.
Things are crazy in Shepherds Bush, a new tower block at Westfield: I saw £3,250,000 mentioned and across the road at the old BBC building: a penthouse apartment for £7,950,000. I don’t know what’s happening, are they actually selling, or just prospectors trying it on?
So many of these developments are almost empty. I guess it’s crime cartels or foreign investors at such prices.
Pre covid we used to have a laugh watching a fat naked guy in a luxury new development which we had watched go up opposite our old office site. Suddenly someone would pipe up “OMG the naked guy is there!” He would be sitting on the balcony of his luxury new pad displaying his wares right in our eyeline!
