Rarely a Dull Moment - Three Level Tavern Approved On Old Hungry Jacks Site

Welcome back to our regular feature, Rarely a Dull Moment where we report on the highlights of City of Fremantle Council meetings and activities. We would have titled the feature Never a Dull Moment, but didn’t want to overpromise!

In 2026, we are very pleased to welcome Jenny Archibald to the RADM desk. Jenny will be well known to many Freo folk as a former Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Councillor of the City of Fremantle. Jenny brings a wealth of experience to her new role as our RADM reporter and we are sure many Shipees will look forward to her regular RADM reports.

Welcome readers to our RADM report for the Ordinary Council Meeting of the Fremantle City Council of 11 March 2026.

A couple of pretty interesting debates but first … our valued public question time.

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

Katrina Goddard, on behalf of other Harvey Beach advocates, put the case for amenity improvements at Harvey Beach on the Derbarl Yerrigan/Swan River in North Fremantle. In particular, she plugged for a shark proof net to be considered given reported sightings in the vicinity over a number of years. The City’s Director of Infrastructure, Graham Tattersall responded that a preliminary assessment has been done and provision for consultancy funds has been included in the 10-year financial plan.

ELECTED MEMBERS COMMS

A popular slot tonight with several elected members (Crs Clark, Camarda, Slaughter, Williamson-Wong and the Mayor) covering activities and outcomes of the past two weeks – including festival funding ($140k thanks to the WA State Government!), attendance at the local Mosque dinner, a multi-cultural cricket event at Fremantle Oval and activities at the local central city Studio School.

AN EXISTENTIAL DILEMMA – PROPOSED BUILDING FOR 37 SOUTH TERRACE, FREO, THE OLD HUNGRY JACKS SITE

A three-storey building was approved on this site back in September 2023 by the State Government Joint Development Assessment Committee (JDAP), following a conditional recommendation for approval by the Fremantle Council. The former Hungry Jacks building has been vacant for many years and is located on a prominent corner within the Central Fremantle Heritage Area. However, given increased building costs, the developer was seeking consideration of a substantially modified proposal – C2603-1 Deferred Item – No. 37 (Lot 502) South Terrace Variations to Planning Approval DAP 004/23 – A Three Storey Tavern Development.

Key points of difference were removal of the second storey verandah (a common theme of corner locations in the central heritage area), a reduction in overall height and changes to the external cladding and windows. Comparison below: left – the 3 storey 2023 plan, right – current proposal. The latest proposal was forbtheee levels, with a setback top level.

This was a rare moment where the applicant had asked that the development be determined by the Council. However, the Council planning officers recommended refusal on design and heritage grounds. This was supported by Councillor Williamson-Wong who bravely argued that this was a “vital site”. She added “I don’t think the current design responds appropriately to its context…. new buildings only come every 30 to 50 years and we’re not going to get a second chance to get this building right …. what we approve tonight is going to stand for a long time”.

Cr Slaughter agreed, commenting “whatever gets built on this site will have an impact”. Cr Graham likewise agreed.

The Mayor proposed that street trees be used to cover the building, drawing Cr Camarda into the debate: “if we have to hide it with trees, then there is a problem”.

Cr van Dorsen argued that the proposal needed to be considered on its merit and that it “feels like we are holding this application to a higher standard”. Others acknowledged the dilemmas of balancing change long sought for the site with the considerations of the heritage precinct.

All in all, the refusal motion was lost and with the alternate motion put, the Council resolved to approve the development.

No doubt such proposals in heritage areas will form a good part of the discussion leading into the development of the new Local Planning Scheme and hopefully deliver greater clarity of expectations for these developments – no simple task!

RIGHT OF WAY DEDICATION –19F Lefroy Rd, South Fremantle

Another tough one – a pretty regular little back lane which links Lefroy Road to Jenkin St and provides access to some 15 adjoining properties – has been a point of discussion for some time. There are many such lanes in the City of Fremantle, most of which are in private ownership of one sort or another. They provide essential access to rear property subdivisions and to many just seeking a shorter route through to the local park and the like. However, the upkeep remains the responsibility of the owners, sometimes in association with the adjacent landholders.

For new subdivisions, local roadways are usually installed by the developer and then ownership is transferred to the local authority, which is then responsible for maintenance in perpetuity. However, in our old city of Fremantle, many, probably most, old lanes remain in private ownership. With any original developer likely long gone, the dilemma for a local authority is to seek to have adjacent landowners contribute to the upgrade prior to handing the roadway to the council. While the Council staff had defined a minimum standard in order to take over responsibility of the lane, the cost (c.$160k) was more than the adjacent locals were prepared to cover. The owners sought a deferral of the item to review with staff what might be a reasonable minimum standard – and the Council approved this!

AND EVERYTHING ELSE!

Alterations to a level 3 heritage listed property at No 52 Atfield St (C2603-2) were deferred for further fine tuning.

The demolition of a house at No 20 Hickory St, a level 4 Historic Record Only listing(C2603-3) was approved.

Minor changes for the Running with Thieves tenancy in Marine Terrace, South Freo were approved – a bit of a beer garden and internal extension (C2603-4).

Amendments to Local Planning Policies (1.7 Developments exempt from Approval, 2.8 Fences, 2.14 Advertisements and Signs, 3.2 Security Screens in City Centre Zone) were approved (C2603-5,6,7,8), as was the Planning Report of delegated decisions (C2603-9).

And the Budget Review for 2025-2026 (C2603-12) was approved. All up, the budget is forecasting a $114,436 closing surplus, representing an increase of $34,446.

Finally – a note on item C2603-11 Bridge Closure Advocacy Report. It seems that things are generally running pretty smoothly given the challenges, as reported by local North ward councillors Clark and van Dorsen. And “bouquets” were handed out by them to various authorities for their efforts in working with the local community. However, with their email boxes “flooded each day”, both stressed the need to support the local businesses in North Fremantle, which, as Cr van Dorsen put it, “have taken a big hit”!

Perhaps it’s time for a visit to Old Bridge Cellars or Mrs Brown’s or another of your favourites to support the cause?

Signed off at 7.57pm. Goodnight Freo.

By Jenny Archibald

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