Rarely A Dull Moment - Clontarf Road LDP Approved, Community Emissions, Cr Doug Thompson

New microphones, hallelujah! We can hear them at last!

(Minus a few teething issues in today’s echo chamber. Can they please give one to Cr Archibald? Still very challenging to hear her over the video recording.)

The City of Fremantle, at its Ordinary Council Meeting on Wednesday 14 August 2024, has been considering an LDP for the Clontarf Road development and establishing a new Working Group: Community Emissions, among noteworthy things.

Let’s dive in!

LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR CLONTARF ROAD, BEACY

The Local Development Plan covers Lots 72 and 25, 2-4 Clontarf Road, and Lot 73, 1 Naylor Street, Beaconsfield.

It’s at the corner of Clontarf Road and was unanimously approved by Council at the latest Meeting.

This follows an advertising period from 4 April to 2 May 2024, which garnered 10 community submissions raising concerns about “connectivity, diversity of housing, compliance with the R-Codes Part C, traffic and parking, amenity, landscaping, appearance of the development, provision of public open space, sustainability measures, density of development, and bushfire risk.”

The land is zoned Residential with density at a rate of 25 households per hectare (R25) envisaged for it. In its former life, there were wool stores, an MTR bus depot, and boat and caravan storage.

The original iteration of the Local Development Plan sought to subdivide the land into 162 lots sized from 102m2 to 409m2, and provide six laneways, four public access way lots, and two reserves for public open space. The City did not support this proposal. The Western Australian Planning Commission granted approval for the subdivision regardless on 20 November 2023.

Now, the site is planned to feature 184 residential lots at a residential density of R80 ranging from 102-369m2 in area, reconfigured laneways, and six public open space reserves.

For context, for anyone who regularly drives down Hampton Road to get to Rockingham or Cockburn Roads, this is right next to your commute. A 4.68 hectare area.

Various concessions are sought from the Residential Design Codes of WA to accommodate the new housing. As the City puts it:

“The LDP seeks to establish deemed-to-comply development requirements for the lots that will result from the subdivision. These include:
• a minimum building height of two storeys
• a maximum building height of three storeys
• building setbacks from all lot boundaries
• orientation of buildings in relation to the front street
• on-site garage and parking locations for residents
• on-street visitor car parking via the installation of embayed (parallel) parking within the development and on Naylor and Strang Streets
• front and rear fencing styles and locations
• location of bin pads for waste collection from some lots
• variations to several provisions of the Residential Design Codes of Western Australia (R-Codes) Part C (medium density).”

Lachlan McCaffrey from Stockland spoke to the LDP, and provided his full support of the officer recommendation, subject to minor modification of roofing material where there will be “a general provision requiring roofs to have a solar absorption rating of no more than 0.4”, and thanked the City’s officers for their ongoing efforts to communicate effectively throughout the process.

McCaffrey described the proposal as an “integrated medium density housing precinct” with 13 unique dwelling types, ranging from 1-4 bedrooms in terrace format up to 3 storeys in height. This configuration seeks to ensure each street is activated and prioritises public open space at 16% of the site area in lieu of the required 10%. It strives to reduce car dependency by fostering walkable connectivity, connects to Clontarf Hill, and maintains consistency with the newly adopted Medium Density Codes. Further, the proposal has been reviewed by the City’s Design Review Panel and the State Government, with recommendations provided by each duly incorporated. Each site will be provided with 2 trees and “supplemented with generous landscaping”.

How encouraging. We expect in light of this proposal Stockland will integrate similar high standards in other housing projects across Perth.

Cr Sullivan remarked it’s been a long time coming as the previous owner has sat on it for a long time and it’s a realistic development that is sustainable and can be achieved, and has sufficient diversity. He lamented that the City needs a proper Parking Strategy for redevelopment areas, citing examples on Burt Street and Knutsford Street. On this basis, Cr Sullivan moved for an amended officer recommendation by adding a Part 5A and B to address ongoing maintenance costs of the public open space and road reserves, and potentially apply a Special Area Rate to address the anticipated extra costs associated with the greater volume of public open space.

Mayor Fitzhardinge noted this is a “patchwork area” that will merit from consolidation through new development, and lauded that it will boost housing availability in the area.

Cr Lawver concurred and noted that while he previously voted against this item in the past, he is now “enthusiastically in support of it” as it will result in a much better outcome for residents.

NEW WORKING GROUP: COMMUNITY EMISSIONS

In addition to the three new Internal Working Groups established in February 2024, the City has now established a fourth Working Group to “advance the City’s commitment to local climate change action.”

It is estimated that total emissions from within the Fremantle community are “over 500,000 tonnes CO2-e” according to Snapshot Climate. This includes emissions from Fremantle Ports and State Government facilities. It also includes local businesses, industry, commercial activity, residents, transport, and government broadly.

This item was adopted unanimously in accordance with the officer’s recommendation, as follows:

Council
1. Supports the establishment of a Community Climate Action Working Group to develop actions and strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions within the broader Fremantle community.
2. Approve the Terms of Reference, as provided in Attachment 1.
3. Appoint the following elected members to be representatives on the Community Climate Action Working Group:

Mayor, Hannah Fitzhardinge (ex-officio)
a. Cr
b. Cr
c. Cr
4. Notes the Chief Executive Officer may invite additional elected members and/or external community members to a Working Group to bring specific expertise to the discussion, as required.

On 26 July 2023, Council resolved to align its actions and policy development on emissions reduction with the then current government targets of Net Zero by 2050, establishing an interim target of “at least 43% reduction below 2020 levels by the year 2030.”

According to the Council report, the Working Group’s Terms of Reference include:

• “Identifying key community leaders in sustainability who may be invited to assist the Working Group.
• Develop an evidence-based understanding of the range/scope of community emissions and where the biggest impacts for least effort/cost can be achieved.
• Develop an action plan that prioritises the reduction of community emissions through advocacy, education, promotion and support programs.
• Prepare preliminary budget estimates associated with proposed actions.
• Report back to Council on progress and highlight any recommendations that require council to consider budget implications or adjustments to resourcing”.

The group will determine their chairperson at the first meeting and senior City staff will be allocated to facilitate and assist with technical queries. It will not have decision-making powers but their recommendations and deliverable actions will be reported back to Council.

Cr Williamson-Wong said she was very excited for this to happen, noting that the City has already done a lot in this space and it provides an opportunity to make a big impact for smaller amounts of money. Upon reflection of comments raised during public question time relating to the fossil fuel advertising policy, she observed that there is always room for criticism no matter what you do, and indeed there is huge inaction from parts of the community which exacerbates this. “We also must do something”, she reiterated.

Cr Archibald considered this to be “a great portal for community members who have innovative ideas” to contribute to efforts to tackle emissions.

The new Working Group will include the Mayor ex-officio, Cr Williamson-Wong, Cr Archibald, Cr Lawver, and Cr Camarda.

IN OTHER NEWS

Meanwhile, the City adopted its Corporate Plan Report for 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, and amended the policy governing the City’s art collection.

Cr Archibald noted that the City does a lot of work that doesn’t get recognised in the light of day, such as the $253m of planning and building applications processed, $518m of investments in planning and building, 206 dwellings anticipated for the LDP, 86 festivals with more than 360,000 visitors, receiving nearly $1 million Lotterywest funding for the Walyalup Koort Kaarl Boyak Naariny (Fire is Burning on the Rocks) public artwork by local artists Sharyn Egan (Whadjuk Nyoongar) and Simon Gilby, and observed a huge amount of work goes into encouraging development and activity including in the City centre.

The Council received a grilling during Question Time concerning the US AUKUS ‘junket’, the civic centre construction costs and revenue raised to date, the privacy implications of smart waste tracking, and the sale of the Victoria Hall.

This all preceded a petition presented by former Cr Wainwright, with 415 signatures from Fremantle residents asking the City to:
1. Ban the berthing of nuclear submarines off our shores due to fears of accidents and radiation
2. Explain how this is inconsistent with the policy position of the City to remain a nuclear-free policy, or repeal this policy
3. Reconsider going on the US AUKUS delegation.

ONE MORE THING

Cr Doug Thompson was commended during the Meeting for the WALGA Lifetime Membership Award he received recently, it being the highest honour you can receive as a councillor in recognition of services to the local government sector.

Cr Thompson was first elected to Fremantle council in 1988, is the City’s longest serving councillor, and has been extremely active in the City and broadly across WA since then, especially in relation to waste management and has helped to guide massive projects such as community education, waste reduction, the Container Deposit Scheme, and the FOGO initiative which achieves more than 65% diversion from landfill.

Congratulations and well done, Councillor!