Rarely A Dull Moment - The North Freo Coastline

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 23 September 2026.

Public question time – with a Dockers flag or some such draped on the front desk the public questions and comments kicked off. Eight people discussed the proposed junior oval at Hilton Park (which is to be considered at the Special Council Meeting of 29^thSeptember 2026 and a RADM report will follow).

One person spoke in favour of demolition of a dwelling at 20 Forrest St, Fremantle, three people spoke in support of their respective proposals for unhosted short stay accommodation, and another spoke in support of the demolition of part of a heritage limestone wall at 37 Lilly St, South Fremantle.

Paul Gamblin and Joanne Taggert of the Leighton Action Coalition both spoke in support of the Notice of Motion presented by Cr Sullivan. In particular, Mr Gamblin noted “that this is a critical moment…a sustainable coast needs space…we only get one shot at this.”

Petitions

Only one ….with Cr van Dorssen presenting a petition from North Fremantle residents, including on behalf of younger residents, seeking to have a half court installed in the park.

And with no Deputations, we move on to:

Elected Member Communications

Cr Slaughter noted that the City of Fremantle petition regarding the National Construction Code was presented to the WALGA Annual General Meeting, and this was unanimously received by the members attending.

Cr Mofflin first stated that he wished the Dockers the very best of luck on Saturday!! He then noted that the likewise successful Fremantle City Football Club of some 1200 members had also had two big wins and has brought some significant trophies home this year.

The Headline Story – the North Fremantle Coastal Foreshore again!

Given the significance of the future of this c. 23ha in area in the western part of North Fremantle, Cr Sullivan wrote a magnus opuson the subject – in all 51 pages! Item C2609-9 NOTICE OF MOTION – NORTH FREMANTLE URBAN PRECINCT COASTAL FORESHORE RESERVE was put forward by Cr Sullivan because of his concern, and that of many others, that planning in this peninsula will not see the rigour it might deserve at this important point of its development. This topic was earlier reported in the RADM of 26^th August 2026. https://fremantleshippingnews.com.au/2026/08/28/rarely-a-dull-moment-leaves-of-absence-boo-park-north-freo-and-mrs-amendment-trees-in-hilton-party-time-on-the-strip/

The report summarised that “The land has historically been used for industrial purposes including a fuel terminal and lubricant depot by Viva Energy Australia (formerly Shell Australia), a former Standard Wool site and a former Caltex operation”. The image below shows the area of the proposed amendment.

From the Ordinary Council Meeting of 26 August 2026 the Officers reported that – “The amendment proposed to rezone the subject site from ‘Industrial’ to ‘Urban’ and ‘Parks and Recreation’….the proposal outlined that the subject site was no longer used or required for its past industrial use….(and) therefore proposed the land be rezoned for urban development, noting its close location to Fremantle and North Fremantle, the Fremantle passenger railway (approximately 150m), and Port Beach as key reasons for this request”.

The Officers also noted: “For the City to provide a considered comment on this, the City must first be satisfied that the key planning matters that needed to be resolved – prior to lifting of the Urban Deferred status – have been adequately addressed”. These matters relate in particular to “confirmation of regional road and transport requirements in the locality” and “confirmation of coastal foreshore reserve requirements”.

In support of Cr Sullivan’s report, the Officers stated that it “offers a balanced perspective that supports the need for development coupled with the unique opportunity to optimise the way the coastal foreshore reserve serves regional demand for coastal access and recreational needs”. However, concerns were raised staff that “Since the August Council meeting, it has become apparent that the State Government is likely considering a shift away from ‘planned or managed retreat’ at Port Beach”.

The early image below is from the “Future of Fremantle” which depicts groins and other engineering aspects as a way in which to mitigate erosion. This was not supported during the public consultation and was therefore not pursued in the subsequent “Future of Fremantle” planning process. However, the Officers note: “It is unclear how groyne structures at Port Beach could be considered consistent with SPP2.6. If the WAPC’s consideration of the proposal to lift the urban deferment presupposes a reliance on protection works including groynes and sea walls, then the policy requirements … would need to be adhered to by the proponent and DPLH and be evidenced by the WAPC prior to a decision being made”.

The Officers also noted that it is unclear whether the apparent“shift in strategy is informed by new information or evidence”. While they have sought clarity, they report “At the time of agenda drafting, there had been no formal update or scheduling of a WAPC meeting on the lifting request”.

Cr Sullivan moved his alternate recommendation to his original Notice of Motion in the agenda, on the basis that its “intent was for Council to support the additional response points, not just note them”. In speaking to the motion, he reflects that this has been a campaign of more than 25 years. He reiterated that the foreshore reserve currently proposed is not adequate – and was in fact “short by a lot!”. Among other things, Part C of the motion reiterates that Council “Request the WAPC to demonstrate that the coastal foreshore reserve in the MRS will include sufficient overall area and setback width to accommodate the components required by SPP2.6 including stable dunes; recreational assets and access that meets the long-term demands of the regional community; and, consistency with the Future of Fremantle vision including the extension of Leighton Beach Boulevard as a beach access and parking road through to Tydeman Road”.

Of course, Cr Sullivan is well known to put pen to paper on these issues, particularly when it comes to planning! Here are his thoughts on how the site could be spatially laid out to achieve the outcome sought after.

While 51 pages long, it is an excellent review of many iterations of discussion and planning for this area over years!https://www.fremantle.wa.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Meeting-attachments-Ordinary-Meeting-of-Council-23-September-2026.pdf.

It will no doubt also inform the COASTAL HAZARD RISK MANAGEMENT ADAPTATION PLAN – WORKING GROUP which includes Crs Sullivan, Williamson Wong and Clarkas members (confirmed at the Council meeting in August 2026). This work is to develop a Coastal Hazard Risk Management and Adaptation Plan (CHRMAP)…to…help identify coastal hazards, asset vulnerability and community coastal values to define and prioritise appropriate responses along the Fremantle coastline, including the coastal erosion hotspot Port Beach and river estuarine areas”. This important project will be carried out over the next two years.

In Council debate, Cr van Dorssen noted that Cr Sullivan’s report “offers a more holistic view of all key matter to be considered there”…and that “we want to get the best outcome for the site”.

Cr Williamson Wong felt that “It’s an extreme amount of work that’s gone into this, not just for this agenda item, but all of the years of working with the Leighton Action Coalition and to make sure that we have a safe and usable coastline. The one thing that I keep thinking about is how we are doing land use planning in a climate crisis and the WAPC needs to kind of show us that they understand that too….I don’t think that they’ve done that yet. And so I hope that in conversations going forward, this can be perhaps the first land use planning decision they make in which they acknowledge that, because we have a lot of coastline in WA and we need to figure out how we’re going to manage it going forward and in a way that means we have good development that lasts for a long time…..”

In closing debate, Cr Sullivan also thanked Cr Clark in particular(who was unable to attend the meeting) for encouraging some brevity.

“(Cr Clark’s) input was very good. She also got Cr Claude… I don’t know how many of you know Cr Claude… but CrClaude also had input into this document…and what Cr Claude basically said was you could have said all of this in the following paragraph …..which is surely the purpose of contemporary coastal planning….and that is… “That we take every opportunity to set aside sufficiently wide coastal recreation nodes that will survive long enough for future generations to enjoy. In the long term, the foreshore reserves we plan today may well deliver the only wide sandy beaches we have left in a hundred years”. So, thank you Cr Claude for that summation”. The motion was of course supported unanimously by the Council.

And everything else

The item for PSC2609-1 LILLY STREET, NO. 37 (LOT 20), SOUTH FREMANTLE – VARIATION TO DA0288/25 (TWO STOREY ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS TO EXISTING SINGLE HOUSE) was discussed at the previous Planning Services Committee meeting of 2 September 2026. It was referred on to Council for a decision given it involved the removal of a section of heritage wall on one boundary. After a good deal of discussion, and requirements for the applicants to document that portion of the wall to be removed, the demotion was unanimously approved by Council. While always a difficult decision, it is pleasing to add here that the owners have proposed to do an extensive restoration of the original limestone house on the property.

In contrast, Item PSC2609-4 FORREST STREET, NO. 20(LOTS 1626, 973 & 523), FREMANTLE- DEMOLITION OF EXISTING SINGLE HOUSE WITHIN HERITAGE AREA was not supported by Council. Described as “ticketeeboo” by Cr Graham, several of the elected members agreed that the house had heritage significance and should be retained. After considerable discussion, it was unanimously refused.

A good deal more discussion on unhosted short stay accommodation which you may recall has been a fairly topicalthing of late. There were three applications – one following a SAT reconsideration and mediation – which were for PSC2609-8 DOURO ROAD, NO. 11/1 (LOT 13), SOUTH FREMANTLE,PSC2609-9 DOURO ROAD, NO. 2/1 (LOT 4), SOUTH FREMANTLE, both approved with no time limit for short stay accommodation, and PSC2609-11 SOUTH TERRACE, NO. 8/342 (STRATA LOT 8), SOUTH FREMANTLE which was approved with a 12 month trial period. Cr Mofflin noted that “short term (accommodation) in general is fraught…we are at risk of inconsistency in decision making”. A fourth unhosted short stay item was for C2609-2 SAT RECONSIDERATION – ADELAIDE STREET, NO. 612/23 (LOT 82), FREMANTLE – CHANGE OF USE TO UNHOSTED SHORT-TERM RENTAL ACCOMMODATION. This was formerly refused by Council, but following the report from SAT, and an amendment by Cr Sullivan for a 24 month time limit, the use was approved unanimously.

In the mix was the C2609-3 WALGA CONSULTATION – SHORT-TERM RENTAL ACCOMMODATION (STRA) IN WESTERN AUSTRALIA, where the “Western Australian Local Government Association (WALGA) are proposing to update their advocacy position to seek greater support for local governments managing the issue”. Good timing given the issues coming to light. Likewise unanimously supported.

Other items included the adoption of the AMENDED LOCAL PLANNING POLICY 3.16 BUDGET, the DRAFT COUNCIL POLICY – GRANTS AND SPONSORSHIP, THE ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT (ERM) POLICY & FRAMEWORK and BUDGET MANAGEMENT POLICY.

The REVIEW OF HEALTH LOCAL LAWS 1997 was approved and will now go out for public review and comment.

And a bunch of various reports on audit and risk (much of which is confidential), financials, budget review and working group reports were approved. In all, an agenda of 206 pages plus attachments of 627 pages!

Well after all that, let’s hope the right colours comes through on Saturday!!