Rarely A Dull Moment - What Happened At Planning Services Committee on 7 October?

Welcome back to our regular feature, Rarely a Dull Moment where we report on the highlights of City of Fremantle Council and 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 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 Planning Services Committee of 7 October 2026. A total of 11 items all up, with quite a mixture of interesting topics –

*house extensions,

*front/side fence,

*a quite unusual bar,

*short term accommodation policy,

*convenience stores and

*the update of the heritage list.

As this was a planning meeting, all members of the public elected to speak to each item as dealt with by committee and there were no other speakers there for other topics other than agenda items.

THE HEADLINE STORY – well how about a discussion about a bar – but not quite any ordinary bar. Item PSC2610-5 JOSEPHSON STREET, NO. 3 (LOT 1), FREMANTLE – PARTIAL CHANGE OF USE TO SMALL BAR is quite a different offering.

It proposes a “Partial Change of Use to Small Bar (to complement existing Shop and Restaurant/Café land uses as part of tabletop gaming and hobby shop business, ‘Hightide Tabletop Gaming’). The site is located at the junction of Point, Ellen and Josephson Sts in the CBD area.

The proponents propose to use the building without modification. The “nature of the business is not to provide a “bar” in the traditional sense, but rather the applicant is seeking the ‘small bar’ land use to complement the other land uses (restaurant/café and shop) so as to facilitate the business or activity of tabletop gaming and allow for the sale of alcohol as part of (or ancillary to) the broader business which is focused on tabletop gaming. The small bar land use approval is required to enable the liquor licence to be supported for the subject site”. The applicant and operator, Hightide Tabletop Gaming, provides a unique offering that does not exist elsewhere in the City. It will certainly be a very different addition to our CBD.

Four members of the public spoke to the committee on the proposal – some in support of the application and some local residents raising concerns about potential noise from patrons leaving the premises when closing (which will be 10pm Monday to Saturday and 5pm on Sunday). One speaker in support proffered “we are nerds who play games – table top games. It’s a third space where you can come and meet your people. People don’t drink much…the bar is available to people in this space…bottles and cans in the fridge…and there is no amplified music”. One of the business owners was passionate about the games and mentioned that he was planning to head to Paris for the World Championships. He described the business activity as “basically community – human connection” and highlighted the “Flesh and Blood” game……. which, incidentally, Wikipedia describes as “a trading card game published by Legend Story Studios (LSS), an independent design studio based in Auckland, New Zealand. Gameplay focuses on two players who each control a single hero who battle one versus one to the death.

In leading the games discussion, Cr Clark fessed up to playing “D&D” herself …..”playing it for years with friends where games could go on for hours and hours”….. We do indeed have new talent on this council! In speaking in favour of the proposal, she agreed that it does become “a third space” and was “a positive thing to have” – supporting a “geek use rather than another beer barn”. The Mayor was also supportive, and “enjoyed the story they are all part of”.

Cr Sullivan reiterated that “its all about management” when looking at ameliorating the concerns raised by locals in the area, and he proposed an amendment to look at ways to ensurethe exit of patrons would be staggered on closing. However,this was not supported by colleagues, with Cr van Dorssen commenting that “when you live in the inner city there has to be a level of tolerance” and Cr Clark adding this “just puts more red tape around the business”. In closing, a slightly tetchy Cr Sullivan stated that his colleagues made him “feel like the pariah in the room” and that he was “simply listening to the applicant”. His key concern was the “disconnect between liquor licencing and planning that is incredibly difficult to manage….and its about who comes later”…to which Cr van Dorrsen emphasised that “the Management Plan was very much tied to the operation, so if someone came in they would have to comply with that as well”.

Given an approved Management Plan is an essential component before any final staff signoff, the Officers recommendation for approval was supported unanimously by the committee.

And all the rest: –of the remaining items, eight were resolved under delegated authority to the committee and three were recommendations which will go on to the next Ordinary Council Meeting.

PSC2610-1 HICKORY STREET, NO. 20 (LOT 304), SOUTH FREMANTLE – TWO STOREY SINGLE HOUSEwas recommended for refusal by Officers. However, councillors noted a number of issues, including a mature tree which has apparently been modified over time, and felt that a revised proposal could be considered. Cr Sullivan argued that he was comfortable with a deferral that would allow the applicant time to bring forward an amended proposal and this was unanimously supported by his colleagues.

PSC2610-2 HERBERT STREET, NO. 5 (LOT 23), NORTH FREMANTLE – TERRACE ADDITION AND ALTERATIONS TO EXISTING SINGLE HOUSE was recommended for refusal by Officers. Long time North Fremantle resident Charlie Nicholson spoke at the meeting in favour of the proposal, adding that it would “restore one of the city’s streetscape disasters”. Cr van Dorssen moved an alternate motion to approve the proposal, which was then supported 5/1 by the Committee.

At PSC2610-3 SOUTH TERRACE, NO. 193 (LOT 1), SOUTH FREMANTLE a front and side boundary fence proposal finally won its day in the sun, with Cr Sullivan moving an alternate motion to approve the revised plans, and which was supported unanimously by the Committee.

A proposal for PSC2610-4 SUFFOLK STREET NO.26 (LOT 1) FREMANTLE – TWO STOREY ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS TO EXISTING SINGLE HOUSE was unanimously approved.

Item PSC2610-6 FORREST STREET, NO.75 (LOT 1465), FREMANTLE – TWO STOREY REAR ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS TO EXISTING SINGLE HOUSE was not so straightforward. A neighbour raised concerns about the scale of the proposed basement and height of adjacent walls. Overall, Committee members considered the application reasonable in planning terms, though agreed that an advice note seeking a dilapidation report of adjacent properties would be appropriate. This was approved, and the item as a whole was approved unanimously.

Item PSC2610-7 REVIEW OF LOCAL PLANNING POLICY 2.27: UNHOSTED SHORT-TERM RENTAL ACCOMMODATION was deferred for further review given some of the concerns raised in the Committee discussion and PSC2610-8 PLANNING INFORMATION REPORT – OCTOBER 2026 was received.

Item PSC2610-9 ADOPTION OF LOCAL PLANNING POLICY 5.4: CONVENIENCE STORES was supported unanimously by Committee and will now go on to the next Council meeting, as will Item PSC2610-10 FINAL RECOMMENDATION ON AMENDMENT 89: CONVENIENCE STORES.

And lastly, Item PSC2610-11 ANNUAL UPDATE OF THE HERITAGE LIST AND LOCAL HERITAGE SURVEY 2026, which saw an interesting amendment – the removal of 64 Queen Victoria St from the recommended list. The building in question is that on the corner of Beach St and James St but part of an overall suite of buildings on that site.

The landowner, Doug Carr, who spoke at the meeting, was not supportive of its listing for several reasons including the building condition, replacement of parts of the building over time (such as floors), and the likely future developments for that site (it is in an area tagged for higher density residential in future planning scenarios). The report notes that “Since the 1960s the place has been associated with the Shacks Motor Group and has been used for car storage”. This building is part of a streetscape of industrial buildings that was established in the Inter-War era adjacent to Victoria Quay – and is estimated to have been constructed around 1934. It is not an easy one – the building is in poor condition and, as put by Cr Clark, “one can physically pull the bricks from out of the façade”. Other issues raised by Cr Sullivan included water table encroachment over time, future realignment of Beach St and others. Colleagues agreed and the proposed entry for a Management Level Category 3 was recommended for deletion from the list. This item likewise will go on to the next Council meeting.

The meeting closed at 8.26pm. Goodnight Freo.

*By Jenny Archibald

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