The Future of Fremantle Report - ‘Boosterism writ large’

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The report to Government of the Jane Bennett chaired Future of Fremantle Committee, bearing date November 2024 – the Bennett report – was, as exclusively reported on Fremantle Shipping News, finally released last week by Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti and Minister for Planning John Carey following persistent questioning by our esteemed editor.

What does it tell us that we didn’t already know? Actually not a great deal, as it extensively re-works the content of a similarly titled June 2023 report, and the November 2023 Future of Fremantle Emerging Vision and Future Scenarios.

The latter posed three scenarios, ranging from 25-35, 35-45 and 45-55 thousand residents. Predictably, the larger gets the nod.

The Bennett report is boosterism writ large, the language florid, and the illustrations seductive. It offers iconic vistas, an iconic harbourside loop, an iconic moveable bridge, iconic buildings and iconic destinations. A cynic might feel an iconic election in the air. It is a city of the future, with a potential population almost double that of today’s Fremantle, bigger than Geraldton and not a lot smaller than Bunbury.

Precinct Roles

It consists of five precincts: Victoria Quay and South Quay to the South, and Leighton, North Fremantle, North Quay and Rous Head, to the North; but it lacks an all-embracing name (conditions apply to my suggestion), has no identifiable centre and doesn’t have a civic centre or a footy stadium (though at 250ha it could accommodate 100 MCGs).

There is an abundance of detail about each precinct, but apart from arrows pointing outwards, little detail of how it will relate to its a hinterland that reaches far into Cottesloe, Mosman Park and beyond. Existing North Fremantle, for example, already isolated from it by transport corridors, has two vague dotted lines connecting it to new North Fremantle. The report’s singular weakness is its failure to address its impact on, and role in, the region.

This project, we are told, has a fifty year development horizon, so little that we envisage today is likely to come to pass in that half century. That of course is no reason for not having a vision for the future. But does this report offer a guiding vision for what we would like this new city to be?

You might expect to find that in the report’s Vision Statement, but instead of a clear, inspiring statement of the vision that should guide the city’s creation into the unpredictable future, we get this sort of waffle:

In supporting the economic diversification of Western Australia, the redevelopment will strengthen Fremantle | Walyalup’s existing economy through investment in high-value strategic industries and infrastructure to unlock new jobs for the future.

As a socially diverse community rich in creativity and spirit, people from all walks of life will feel welcome to come together, meet and connect, enriching Fremantle | Walyalup’s legacy of delivering shared prosperity.

By reconnecting the City to the water, the Fremantle Inner Harbour will become an exemplary waterfront destination, complete with advanced technologies, renowned green spaces and diverse experiences that offer fresh lifestyle opportunities to celebrate and enjoy the river and sea.

This stodgy prose scarcely begins to describe a place that anyone would care to live in. In a completely contrasting fashion, some years ago North Fremantle’s elder states-people tried to articulate the values that should guide the future of the Leighton Peninsula, they opened with:

‘Fremantle is a fine-grained river and coastal city. A place that encompasses down-town, garden suburbs and coastal lifestyles, but with industrial centres and a service, retail and port-related economy. Geographically distinct, the Fremantle suburb of North Fremantle, historically a separate municipality, exemplifies this form of dynamic urbanism whilst endeavouring to preserve its social capital.

‘That is, its … networks of relationships among people who live and work in a particular society, enabling that society to function effectively.’

Now that the Bennett report has given us the economic imperatives and the target residential densities, it would be timely to set down the timeless social, environmental, recreational and governance principles that should guide the city’s future through a long period of technological, economic and political change. Starting with an agreed vision statement, then listing the principles that should underpin, and be a permanent point of reference for, the creation of a thriving community of connected neighbourhoods.

While we can’t, and shouldn’t try to, replicate Fremantle on the North shore, we can make it a point of reference for what makes for a liveable community.

By Gerry MacGill

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