Rarely A Dull Moment - Special Electors’ Meeting of 15 September 2026

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 on this occasion on a Special Electors’ Meeting. 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 Special Meeting of Electors held 15 September 2026.

THE HEADLINE STORY – in our previous RADM story on Hilton Park, we covered the objection by a number of members of the public to the proposed removal of 26 trees from Hilton Park. This removal was planned to facilitate the installation of a junior Aussie rules football field adjacent the much older full-size AFL oval, as part of an overall Hilton Park Masterplan which was approved by the Council on 25 September 2024 – some two years ago.

Work is already underway for parts of the Hilton Park project, but all works for the junior oval were paused within a week or so of starting this project.

With a petition of 548 signatories lodged requesting a special electors’ meeting, a date was set by Council for 15 September 2026 at the Fremantle Town Hall. The motion of the petition was:

“That Council immediately halt all clearing and mature tree removals across the City of Fremantle, specifically including the destruction of mature trees at Hilton Reserve, and mandate that any future infrastructure, sports, or masterplan developments must be redesigned to prioritise 100% retention of mature urban canopy.”

In addition, another three motions were put to the meeting – the wording of which was available on screen at the meeting but has not yet been made available online. These related to seeking a review of the Hilton Park Masterplan, issues relating to the City’s Urban Forest Plan, and matters relating to public consultation.

The meeting was held in the Fremantle Town Hall and was attended by some 300 people, many supporting the motion and many others, including aspiring junior Fremantle Docker players, not supporting the motion but instead wanting the Masterplan and their oval to go ahead.

All elected members who are currently in town were in attendance (Mayor and Cr Clark were formal apologies) and Cr Camarda, the Deputy Mayor, very capably chaired the meeting.

In all there were 43 individuals who passionately spoke to the motion – some 25 people in favour and the remainder against. Arguments put were that trees are a non-renewable resource, they are not decoration but take decades to replace, people want more canopy not less and concerns were expressed about loss of bird foraging, nesting and roosting habitat. Claims were made that there was no indication that trees would be removed in the masterplan. Others considered that the public consultation process was flawed, that the options analysis was incorrect and that “Council has a duty to listen to its residents”.

To add a very Freo note, it seemed that association with the City implied greater significance with many adding their long-term residency and/or heritage … after a bit of competition, the longest was 130 years.

Of the specific comments, a White Gum Valley resident felt that “we cannot afford to compromise our urban canopy commitments…there is a climate and biodiversity emergency”while a Hilton resident asked why we weren’t thinking more of “the non-human residents of the park”.

A Beaconsfield resident asked that “the asbestos be kept where it is…and that the oval be moved”.

A question was raised on whether local school grounds in the area could be used rather than progressing with the junior oval……on this one it was interesting to note that when I was last up at the subject site (a week or so ago) some 20 local high school students were romping around the area of the junior oval. It seems that they visit frequently to provide the kids with off campus recreation.

One resident formerly associated with the football club commented that it has no capacity to add further players and that “not every patch of grass can become a football oval….there were rules, regulations, safeguards that clubs had to work with”.

Another argued that “informal sport was increasing” and that we should have “a vision of increasing canopy and decreasing turf”.

The President of the Fremantle Junior Football Club added that “the motion could jeopardise the oval for the club….which has been a part of their plan for a number of years” and that “alternatives had been considered”.

Another resident noted that there were some 700 homes coming to Beaconsfield, that the facility would be needed and that he “can’t speak highly enough of team sports”.

A Hilton resident clarified that “there are 580 kids trying to train on one oval…why are we here now…come on lads, seriously, its ridiculous”?

Several people said that they had been bullied in the debate online and that “a number of people were not confident to come to the meeting”. An O’Connor resident stated that she had been told that all trees were to be removed and so signed the petition, then on finding this was not the case asked that her name be removed from the petition and stated that she now publicly supports the masterplan.

In support of the plan, several outlined the proposal for the northeast area, which includes plantings of species which will support local wildlife. “We need green corridors and need to plant communities…of native species”. Another described the mental health benefits of sporting communities, and in particular for children.

A number of football supporters outlined that they had been involved in the process of consultation in 2023 and 2024 for the revised plan. One of the club representatives commented that there was “considerable disagreement and debate…and trees were always a big part of that…it was agreed that two trees would always be planted to replace any removed”.

Overall, it seemed that most people weren’t aware that the motion put was to stop felling of any mature tree in the whole of the municipality – rather focussing discussion on the Hilton Park Masterplan. In all, the motion of the petition was finally put and, while a close vote, was approved at 20.42pm.

Of the remaining three motions put during the meeting (though not a part of the petition for the electors meeting), many attending were not clear on what was in the motions. The CEO, Glen Dougall suggested that some parts were obsolete given the passing of the first motion, but it was clearly getting late in the evening and patience was wearing thin for many. With claims of it all being “very unfair” and with a good number of the football parents andchildren having left, the three motions were finally put and approved.

The outcome of the Special Electors’ Meeting will now be considered by the Council at a Special Council Meeting to be held on 29 September 2026. The notice for this meeting is posted online at and can be found here.

The Special Council meeting will consider:

1. Motions arising from the Special Meeting of Electors held on 15 September 2026;

2. Hilton Park Precinct Masterplan; and

3. Tender FCC704.26 Hilton Park North – Design and Construction (subject to the outcome of the above matters).

The full agenda will be posted in due course.

Signed off at 20.57pm. Goodnight Freo.

*By Jenny Archibald

~ For earlier RADM reports look here.

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