Rarely a Dull Moment - Redeveloping Freo Oval and Retaining Trees

A short, revamped meeting for those watching the Ordinary Meeting of Council of 27 November 2024, online with at least two very big ticket items concerning heritage and trees.

FREMANTLE OVAL REDEVELOPMENT PLAN

Many readers will no doubt be familiar with the long history behind this one.

Fremantle Oval Masterplan building heights

There is a tension between the desire to ensure this Fremantle Oval Aussie Rules playing field remains usable for the clubs who call it home, protecting the strong historic value of the wider precinct which contains World Heritage views to Fremantle Prison, and responding to the need to accommodate additional land uses including more housing within this part of Fremantle.

It has been subject to various planning studies over time. These focused on the aim to preserve its heritage values while improving the playing field including by reorientating it, incorporating community facilities and housing, incorporating more events of a broad spectrum, and improving Fremantle Oval’s connections to the surrounding area. A lack of funding ultimately meant none of these plans progressed.

According to the officer report, this new masterplan prepared by City Collective and reviewed by the City’s working group alongside key stakeholders strives for:
• Acknowledgement of the poor condition of Fremantle Oval compared to other facilities.
• Expansion of women’s sport, particularly women’s football and the inadequacy of current facilities compared to contemporary standards.
• Opportunity for a precinct with more diverse uses, better community access and connection to the city centre.
• New funding opportunities at the Federal Government level.
• Learning from previous master planning initiatives.

The enhanced precinct would allow for 10,000 – 15,000 spectators, greater major event capacity, upgrades to heritage facilities including the Victoria Pavilion at the Oval, improved connectivity and accessibility, and, controversially, new development opportunities including for an enhanced hospital precinct and housing.

It is informed by the recently adopted Fremantle Oval Conservation Management Plan prepared by Griffiths Architects.

Over the past 9 months, the City has hosted engagement over this project in two phases. The first phase, a broad program held over 14 March 2024 to 14 June 2024, sought to establish the key principles, visions, and values that ought to inform the masterplan. Phase 2 during 10 October to 6 November 2024, culminated all feedback received from Phase 1 and research conducted to date, and invited the community to review the City’s response to Phase 1. During Phase 2, the City engaged with nearly 2000 people to collect “1,001 individual pieces of information” either in person or online, with 33% of respondents advising they “fully support” the project and 43% advising they “somewhat support” it.

There are points we can all agree on. There is a strong need to upgrade the South Fremantle Football Club sporting club facilities. There is a strong need to protect and enhance the site’s connection to its surrounds. More affordable housing is desperately needed, including in Fremantle. But agreeing on how is where the respondents expressed grave concerns.

24% of respondents who ‘do not support’ the Masterplan opposed it on the basis of:
• High-rise development;
• the need to preserve Fremantle’s unique heritage, particularly the prison’s world heritage values; and,
• Objections to social housing due to perceived negative impacts on the city’s vibrancy and safety.

The officer report advised that the community feedback was helpful and will be used to guide the project as it progresses. Key “takeaways” that will drive this process include work to:
• Undertake further concept development, testing and consultation regarding the housing development component of the Masterplan.
• Ensure prioritisation of universal access throughout the project.
• Prepare traffic and transport studies to identify infrastructure needs and strategies (e.g. for public transport) to improve public access to the oval.
• Ensure project procurement processes and future briefing documents appropriately prioritise good design and sensitivity to Fremantle’s heritage and character.
• Ensure amenity is prioritised through commitment to greening the precinct, and improving pedestrian and cyclist access and infrastructure.
• Further integrate the project with other work being prepared by the City, such as the City Plan, to ensure prioritisation of Fremantle’s future as a liveable city.

Cr Sullivan, Cr Archibald and Mayor Fitzhardinge spoke to the positives of the aims of this masterplan, particularly in its potential to unlock opportunities to improve community access and use of the Oval while improving the experience of surrounding areas, including the Prison forecourt.

The next stages are to involve formulation of a Business Case and Project Definition Plan in accordance with State Government asset planning processes. The Business Case alone is likely to take about six months, and once this is done the City will commence further engagement with Traditional Owners and First Nations people due to the site’s cultural significance. Then we will see if this masterplan is to progress after all or meet the fate of its predecessors.

Council unanimously resolved to:
1. Receive the Community Engagement Report, as provided in Attachment 2.
2. Adopt the Fremantle Oval Redevelopment Masterplan, as provided in Attachment 1.
3. Request that the Chief Executive Officer commence preparation of a formal Treasury Business Case and a Project Definition Plan, working with State Government, to refine the financial implications and scope/functional brief of the project.
4. Note the following process that the project will go through before the built-form and land uses of the development(s) at the southern end of the Oval are finalised:
a. Seek funding, then develop detailed plans
b. Seek community input
c. Undertake Heritage Impact Assessment (HIA) regarding the Fremantle Prison
d. Lodge DA and HIA for determination
e. Seek community feedback on DA plans
f. Refer to State Heritage Office for assessment
g. Refer to Federal Government for heritage assessment
h. Adjust plans in response to DA feedback
i. Obtain final approvals, based on the above process.

DRAFT LOCAL,PLANNING POLICY 2.26 – TREE RETENTION

Another pivotal moment in the City’s history, its first tree protection policy, will now be advertised to the community for comment over 21 days, and thereafter potential adoption.

As we prepare to enter another hot summer, one can’t help but notice the difference that tree canopy shade makes to comfort in the street or in the backyard of one’s home. Yet it is disappearing. Disappearing to make way for more and more housing that requires mechanical cooling to perform the role that trees once did, almost free of cost. At the cost of our health and biodiversity.

The City of Fremantle is no exception to this. In response, it has prepared this draft policy to supplement the original aims of its Significant Tree Register, which arguably on its lonesome is insufficient to protect the vanishing canopy, if our notorious fig tree is any example to go by.

This policy is structured on the template adopted by WALGA – the Western Australian Local Government Association – early in 2024. It defines protected trees, known as “regulated trees”, which are defined as being:
a) 8m or more in height; and / or
b) has an average canopy diameter of at least 6m; and / or
c) has a trunk circumference of at least 1.5m, measured 1.4m above the ground; and
d) is of a species that is not included on State or local area weed register.
Development approval will be required for any activities that are deemed to be tree-damaging under the policy, including removal of trees, excessive pruning, or damage to the root systems. This can include pollarding or paving over root systems within the canopy drip line.

This will only apply to landed coded Residential R30 and below, and Development Areas. High density code areas above R30 are, as advised by the officer report, already catered for in respect to tree retention and planting requirements. Further, lower density housing sites currently typically provide for single housing typologies where mature trees can “reasonably” be retained. Extending it to Development Areas also reinforces the requirement for tree retention to be considered early in the process at the structure-planning stage for new housing areas.

Removal of a regulated tree will be considered against factors including:
• the health, maturity and location of the tree;
• ecological, biodiversity and environmental values of the tree;
• the contribution of the tree to the streetscape;
• the location of the tree on the site;
• safety risks; and
• recommendations of an arborist’s report.

This policy comes with the blessing of environmental advocacy groups including the Fremantle branch of the WA Tree Canopy Advocates who spoke in support of it on the night. It was acknowledged by councillors that the draft policy is likely to be subject to change from the template in order to better represent the views and concerns of the Fremantle community to better address potential gaps after advertising. It is also only as good as the decision-making that defends it, in a planning landscape fraught with discretion and contention.

During the process of preparing this policy, the City will take the opportunity to also review Local Planning Policy 2.10 – Landscaping of Development and Existing Vegetation on Development Sites (LPP 2.10) and in the future the Significant Tree Register.

Council unanimously resolved that it:
1. Endorses draft Local Planning Policy 2.26: Tree Retention as provided in Attachment 1 for the purpose of advertising, in accordance with Schedule 2, Clause 4 and 87 of the Planning and Development (Local Planning Schemes) Regulations 2015.
2. Notes that any submissions received during the advertising period will be presented to Council for consideration.
3. Notes that other strategies for encouraging the growth of urban forest on public and private land will be explored and will be subject to a separate report, brought to Council in early 2025.

OTHER MATTERS

All other items on the agenda were adopted as per the officer recommendation en bloc.

Small but mighty as far as meetings go. Never an easy one for our councillors who faced a grilling this evening, nor for the City officers who undertook extensive research and stakeholder engagement to progress these projects to this point.

Thanks for reading, folks, and see you again in December for one last Council meeting this year!

By Gayle O’Leary. If you’d like to catch up on more by Gayle here on Fremantle Shipping News, look right here!

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