Rarely a Dull Moment - The Respite Centre & Trees

Welcome back to our regular feature, Rarely a Dull Moment where we report on the highlights of City of Fremantle Council and occasionally Committee meetings and other 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 knowledge and experience to her new role as our RADM reporter and we are sure Shipees will look forward to her regular RADM reports.

Welcome readers to our RADM report for the Ordinary Council Meeting of 22 July 2026. A large agenda but overall, the key topic for the night was the discussion on Item SGSC2607-5 RESPITE CENTRE PROPOSAL, proposed to be based at the former ambulance building at 14 Parry St, Fremantle. While this came to the Strategic and General Services Committee meeting on 8 July, as reported in the last RADM, and was robustly discussed by both members of the public and committee, the decision to proceed with formal investigation of the project was one that required a decision of the full council.

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

Again, public question time of an hour focussed predominantly on the Respite Centre proposal with 11 people speaking – some raising concerns about the impact the proposal may have on the residents in the area and others outlining the benefits it may deliver. A good number of residents living in the vicinity of the proposal outlined concerns about the project, focussing on the potential for poor behaviour and compromised safety as well as a lack of consultation to date, with one resident commenting that this was a “profound act of indifference towards us”.

Former councillor Jon Strachan added that the Council “needs to show more respect for those living at #10 Parry St”. Others considered the project to “present an opportunity”…adding that council should “include the community partnership into the model”.

Brett Goring, Aboriginal Peer Support Worker from St Pats, reiterated that “Fremantle is the right place to trial something like this…we can create something that will give people a pathway to hope”.

On other topics, long-time resident Ros d’Souza expressed support for the proposal (C2607-1 MEMBER MOTION TO WESTERN AUSTRALIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION 2026 AGM) to look at changes allowing commercial buildings to be used for residential.

Another raised concerns around the criteria for listing on the Register of Significant Trees and Vegetation Areas – also subject of this agenda.

PETITIONS

Petitions – after a bit of a hiatus we suddenly had two – one from residents in the vicinity of the Respite Centre proposal in Parry St seeking to pause the approval process.

Another was from residents of South Fremantle seeking expansion of yellow line markings to better manage traffic issues in the Francisco St area and other narrow streets of South Fremantle.

And with no Deputations nor Elected Member communications we move on.

THE HEADLINE STORY – THE RESPITE CENTRE

To recap from the Strategic and General Services Committee meeting of 8 July, covered in the last RADM, the SGSC2607-5 RESPITE CENTRE PROPOSAL proposes to convert the former St Johns Ambulance building at 14 Parry St, Fremantle into an overnight respite centre for 28 people per night. This is a Council owned building constructed between 1936 and 1974 and has recently been used by staff for operations. It is proposed to operate seven nights per week, with the proposal that the City enter into an exclusivity arrangement for the centre to be operated by St Pats as an entry-level, short-term respite model for at least an initial five-year period”.

Again, there was general support across the discussion by elected members, while also acknowledging the need to work closely with others, including the residents, to resolve issues should the project proceed. Cr van Dorssen opened debate, stating to the public present that “We hear you, we’re listening…there will be consultation…it can work with goodwill …and community consultation needs to be ongoing”. Cr Sullivan considered this to not be “a permanent answer…but it is more than just a finger in the dyke kind of solution”. Cr Clark felt that council was “looking for improvement for everyone” and Cr Slaughter added that Council had a year to “look at how things would work”. Cr Mofflin stated that we “all want this to be successful…and we only have one shot to get this right”, while Cr Graham stressed that the Council has “to go to the State and Federal governments for full funding”. This was reiterated by Cr Camarda, stating that Council needs to “make sure the State and Federal governments are on board”.

Cr Sullivan moved an amendment to better cover the “accessibility and safety of the surrounding precinct” and, with this accepted, the final motion was approved. From there is a good deal to be worked through with commencement of formal public consultation, discussions with various agencies for funding, and planning and lease considerations and several approvals – certainly no slam dunk.

And the other headline story- TREES

This topic has been bubbling away in various forms – Douro Rd roundabout, residents not knowing about the tree retention policy and clearing bits of their land and others trying to get or keep their beloved tree on the Register of Significant Trees and Vegetation Areas no matter what.

So, while this topic (PSC2607-6 ADOPTION OF AMENDED LOCAL PLANNING POLICIES 2.23: REGISTER OF SIGNIFICANT TREES AND VEGETATION AREAS AND 2.26: TREE RETENTION) was discussed at the recent Planning Services Committee meeting of 1 July 2026, other issues kept surfacing and the council concluded that even more work was required to get these policies right. So, Cr Slaughter moved a motion to defer the item for further consideration, seeking to do more work on both policies and in particular noting that “the retention policy is not clear for our community”. The deferral was approved with only Cr Graham not supporting the motion.

AND EVERYTHING ELSE

Well, quite a bit really – but a swift affair – particularly given the scope of the remainder of the agenda. The Planning Framework Committee of 13 July 2026 dealt with 4 major topics (PFC2607-1 ENGAGEMENT UPDATE ON NEW LOCAL PLANNING SCHEME, PFC2607-2 O’CONNOR INDUSTRIAL AND COMMERCIAL AREA REVIEW, PFC2607-3 HERITAGE PROTECTION AND WEST END and PFC2607-4 CITY CENTRE) which we covered in the RADM of last week. While we reported more on the content of the meeting rather than elected member views, the motions for these items were all passed unanimously and without comment tonight. Though to be fair, these topics will be ongoing and there will be more public engagement and discussion in the future.

For two items, the question of how much unhosted short term rental accommodation is good for our city came up again with two items being considered. For Item PSC2607-3 EAST STREET, NO. 39/31, FREMANTLE – CHANGE OF USE TO UNHOSTED SHORT TERM RENTAL ACCOMODATION, Cr Sullivan successfully moved an alternate motion to refuse the proposal, after being persuaded by Cr Clark’s previous committee discussion that residents living in the apartments found short term residents to be disruptive.

For Item PSC2607-4 ORD STREET, NO. 314/8 (LOT 56), FREMANTLE – CHANGE OF USE TO UNHOSTED SHORT-TERM RENTAL ACCOMMODATION, the view was less clear, and while Cr Clark commented that “we need to start opening up conversations around this”, Cr Sullivan felt that this item was “testing our tolerance…how many is too many.” The item went down to the wire with a split vote and the Mayor using his casting vote to approve the application by supporting the Officers’ recommendation.

Item PSC2607-8 REVOCATION OF LOCAL PLANNING POLICY 3.17 HILTON NEIGHBOURHOOD CENTRE was revoked, sadly having never been used.

Item SGSC2607-1 RESPONSE TO PETITION – PEDESTRIAN CROSSING AT HIGH ST AND AMHERST ST was approved, as was the Item SGSC2607-6 AMENDMENTS TO FINANCIAL HARDSHIP POLICY – meaning that no interest or fees will accrue for rate payments spread over the year should a rate payer qualify.

The SGSC2607-7 REVIEW OF VARIOUS COUNCIL POLICIESwas approved without comment, as was the Item approving the next Chair for the Destination Development Working Group (SGSC2607-8 DESTINATION DEVELOPMENT WORKING GROUP CHAIR) and Item CEOPRC2606-1 CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER ANNUAL PERFORMANCEREVIEW 2025/26.

So with item C2607-1 MEMBER MOTION TO WESTERN AUSTRALIAN LOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION 2026 AGM sent off “seeking support to advocate for targeted amendments to the National Construction Code (NCC) to allow for adaptive reuse of commercial approved property for residential development”, and Financial statements and the schedule of payments approved, the meeting was done and dusted.

(Note – no word to hand, when reporting, on who will replace the Chair of the Destination Development Working Group. But a big thankyou to Linda Wayman who manned the role over the past eight years and did a superb job!)

Signed off at 20.24pm. Goodnight Freo.

*By Jenny Archibald