Progress trumps skateboard ledge: Fremantle mayor

PROPONENTS of Fini’s $110 million Woolstores project say skateboarders using the 100m ledge on Cantonment Street will have to move on or lease space once the seven-storey development is completed.
Their view was shared by Fremantle mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge and elected members on Wednesday when council recommended approval for the controversial project though officers recommended refusal, “due to the level of significance of fabric being demolished”.
The East End reno of the historic site includes the demolition of 30 per cent of the exterior ‘skin’ of the wool stores building, most of the interior timbers and loss of the existing ledge used by skateboarders who turned up to council to voice their concerns.
“I appreciate the outside of building provides a skate ledge, but it is an awful lot of space that is doing very little right now,” the mayor said, having prefaced her remarks by stating officers had no choice but to recommend refusal as they, “went the way they did under policy”.
Cr Fitzhardinge said the project addressed the biggest challenge in Fremantle, “a disconnect between buildings sitting there doing nothing to very little”. She said, “we need rungs on the board”, and approval of the project sent a signal to the community that this is, “a very Freo way of doing business”.
She added such “great developments” address the increasing gentrification of the city: “Our demographics are getting older, there is nothing wrong with people in this demographic, but 65-plus is our biggest growing demographic.” She said one person per 300sqm to 400sqm, “is not going to make a great city”. She added: “Perfect can be the enemy of progress. Progress is the most important thing here and what we are going to get here is an incredible amount of progress in developing the city centre. This is how it should be done.”
The proponents state the once-in-a-generation development is, “a truly mixed-use precinct and the two stunning heritage warehouses will be sensitively refurbished into a multitude of uses, including hospitality and retail, A-grade office floors, a limited number of apartments and townhouses for sale, with sweeping views across Freo & the port – and a relatively new product for the Perth market, 174 co-living apartments to add to the Fremantle community”.
However, Cr Geoff Graham who supported the mayor’s amended recommendation said though the proponents acknowledged people would pay $500 a week to stay in the renewed wool stores, “to get money back on $110 million, it’s more like $600 to $700 a week”, so only students and young professionals with rich parents could afford them. He added questioning why full residential development was not considered: “I’m not sure that’s what Fremantle needs … I’m not sure you are going to get the people you expect.”
Fremantle Chamber of Commerce CEO Chrissie Maus said the chamber was ‘disenchanted’ with the officers’ recommendation to refuse: “In our collective view, it is a significant setback for Fremantle’s future. It also sends a negative message to other potential developers and works in juxtaposition to all the key economic drivers we’ve been collectively working together to drive.”
Ms Maus added: “The Elders wool stores site has been for far too long an eyesore. This project is not just another development proposal, it is a catalyst for revitalisation of the inner east of Fremantle, an area that has been potentially neglected for decades and requires your urgent attention. We can longer afford to allow this derelict building to remain standing as a symbol of stagnation. It no longer reflects the heritage of Fremantle, just a testament to years of neglect.”
Fremantle Society president John Dowson disagreed with Ms Maus’ ‘derogatory’ description: “It is not a derelict building. It is a wonderful reminder of the last wool store in Fremantle. It’s not a matter of not doing something, but doing it right.”
Retired architect Carl Payne agreed and said the wool industry was hugely important to Australia and Fremantle into the 50s and 60s, “it didn’t stop in 1927. However, the 1927 building has been treated so far as the only part of the total structure worth saving. This is heritage conservation nonsense. It is a shambles”.
Mr Payne said: “We need to appreciate the full story. Mr Fini may own the Cantonment Street wool stores building. But Mr Fini doesn’t own the streets or established port precinct cityscape, he doesn’t own the history of the wool trade in Fremantle and he doesn’t own collective community connections to the buildings.”
Human Urban director Kyle Jeavons said there was history before skateboarders arrived at Cantonment Street. But the previous chair of ArtRage, a not-for-profit organisation that operates Fringe World, said: “This should be embraced for all not kept for a few”.
Cr Ingrid van Dorssen supported the mayor’s recommendation and urged skateboarding retailers to claim that space when the project was completed.
Cr Ben Lawver said he struggled to see how skateboarding and al fresco dining and dog walking could co-exist with skateboarders once the building was opened to Cantonment Street.
Cr Frank Mofflin said despite sitting in the $m civic building which was supposed to be a catalyst of Fremantle’s inner city development: “If there has been a more exciting or more significant development in this city in my time here I must have been asleep. This is huge and vitally important for Fremantle. The catalytic effect of this building cannot be overstated.”
He said the project should cater to a wider community, not just skateboarders whose activities could potentially conflict with retailers in the new development.
Interestingly, no other skate sites in Fremantle were mentioned during the council debate including nearby Beach Street and $1.6m skate park at Esplanade Park.
The East Fremantle Community Park also opened last year on the corner of Marmion Street and Moss Street and includes a quarter pipe, flat rail, cantilever disk, pump bump, ledge combo and walls.
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