Fremantle Herald Official

27/11/2025

South Fremantle could soon be home to a new six-storey apartment building, breaking tradition from its pine-tree filled skyline.

The City of Fremantle has received a development application which shows plans for a six-storey, five-dwelling apartment at 242 Marine Terrace.

The DA, which was spread around local social media groups and generally seems to have been welcomed, attracted some ire from a local resident who doesn’t want his beachside life blocked.

“There is a whole suburb of residents living behind and above this development who enjoy the uninterrupted ocean view…6 storeys = No Way,” the angry poster said.

The Chook was unable to get in contact with them.

“We all know this needs to happen but NOT IN FREO,” another commenter sarcastically replied, “for some reason that I’ve decided population density needs to increase everywhere else and in a way that I’ll never notice or be affected by.”

City of Fremantle city planning manager Chloe Johnston says the City’s advertising for the DA aims to “make the development application more transparent” to the community, who will have the opportunity to comment on the apartments through My Say Freo.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/5n8kww9w.

26/11/2025

Fremantle council is poised to release its latest vision for North Fremantle after using feedback from a consultation process earlier this year to draft up several scenarios.

The City’s media advisor Emily Groves says the “pulse check” will help refine the North Fremantle City Plan and beef up its advocacy around the Cook government’s integrated transport plans for the project.

“Once the second round of engagement wraps up early in the new year, City officers will finalise the draft, seek council endorsement for advertising, put it out for advertising, review the submissions, and prepare the final version to be brought back to council for their adoption, ideally before mid-2026,” Ms Groves said.

Launched in May 2024, the city plan aims to create a long-term framework for housing, transport, coastal management and cultural heritage.

North Fremantle Community Association convener Gerard MacGill said several major projects were affecting the area, including proposals to expand transport links, introduce high-rise development and intensify use of the foreshore.

“One of these proposals is the north–south transport links and, importantly, Curtin Avenue joining up with Stirling Highway to go across Stirling Bridge. That would be hugely destructive of North Fremantle,” Mr MacGill said.

The WA Planning Commission has earmarked land around Stirling Highway and Tydeman Road as a planning control area to allow for future road upgrades, including the Curtin Avenue extension. With the Fremantle Traffic Bridge set to close for major works in early 2026, residents are worried about the potential disruption.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/b57r928f.

25/11/2025

With debate about Arthur Head’s future and its role in WA’s bicentenary commemorations centring around its European and Indigenous connections, it turns out an important Chinese connection might need to be thrown into the mix.

Researchers from a UWA research project into Chinese migration have spotted something that also caught the Chook’s eye; a clue that Fremantle’s first Chinese-born resident Chow Moon may have been the carpenter responsible for the woodwork on the 1831 Round House, WA’s oldest surviving public building.

Two Centuries of Chinese Heritage in WA project officer Lucy Hair said because early migrants (other than the English) were poorly documented in the colony, they hadn’t been able to nail down Moon’s involvement, but the little evidence they did have suggested it was “very likely” he contributed.

Moon had been a carpenter aboard the Emily Taylor, which arrived in Fremantle on March 29,1830 and was soon employed by the Colonial government to explore the South West coastline and deliver the first European settlers to Augusta. But the 12-gun cruiser shipwrecked at South Bay during a storm in May 1830 and Moon and his colleagues became stranded in port; it was to become his life-long home.

“He probably didn’t mean to end up here,” Ms Hair said.

“It was just because something happened with his ship and he decided to stay. He’s kind of like an accidental immigrant, which is fascinating.”

Moon next turns up in the record as an employee of Henry Reveley; half-brother to Frankenstein author Mary Shelley and the Swan River Colony’s first civil engineer, who was just polishing off his panopticon design for the Round House.

Read full story at www.fremantleherald.com.

24/11/2025

If you are going to ask someone to write a book about X-Press magazine, there’s only one person for the job – Bob Gordon.

The Beaconsfield local worked at the iconic music mag for a total of 18 years and enjoyed multiple stints as editor, full-time writer, contributor and more (he describes it as a “pleasant saga”).

X-Press is turning 40 and Gordon is putting together a 200-page coffee table book that captures the magazine’s long and loving relationship with the WA music scene.

Like some middle-class Indiana Jones, he’s been headfirst in the dusty X-Press archives in Northbridge, as well as rummaging through the State Library for old copies.

“The book isn’t an academic history, it’s evocative of the time and hopefully captures those moments that were so special to so many,” Gordon says.

“I was handed the first ever edition of X-Press at about 2am on a Sunday morning outside a nightclub in Northbridge.

“And so I sort of followed it before I had anything to do with it, and then once I had something to do with it, well, I had a lot to do with it.”

The limited-edition book will feature a plethora of photos, magazine art and front covers, chronicling how the magazine evolved and became highly popular in the late 80s and 1990s.

At its peak, X-Press was 100 pages and covered all the big international acts that came to town including U2, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and even Michael Jackson.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/564f4wpy.

24/11/2025

Spearwood Primary’s Year 5 and 6 students have scored a prime spot in this year’s Fremantle Biennale, with their animation now lighting up the Fremantle Ports building each evening.
Over two terms the students teamed up with artist Peta Roebuck and the school’s art specialist Terri Dowding to produce the short work, which is screened nightly at 6.45pm until November 30.
The project gave students a rare chance to work alongside a professional artist and see their ideas projected on one of Fremantle’s most recognisable landmarks.
The school says it’s proud of the effort the kids put in and is encouraging locals to head down to the docks for a look.
The Biennale runs until November 30. Head to https://fremantlebiennale.com.au/ for the rest of the program.

22/11/2025

The Albanese government has thrown Freo.Social a lifelife, awarding a $150,000 grant to the live music venue for sound insulation — a move that comes after a dispute with neighbouring Garde Hotel.

The funds come via the federal Revive Live program and will go towards installing acoustic roof panels, insulation in the Drill Hall’s domed ceiling, acoustic drapes, and more rigorous noise monitoring.

The announcement marks a turning point in a saga that threatened Freo.Social’s future.

“Freo.Social has been on the backfoot since this saga began and there was a lot of community concern,” federal Labor MP Josh Wilson said.

“Now, we can plan for the long-term future of this music mecca

“We can now build on this incredible story and Freo.Social can start a new, better chapter… with real funding that supports real and positive change.”

Freo.Social director James Legge says the funding is a lifeline.

“Well, it protects the future of Freo.Social. It’s as simple as that,” he said.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/37ydkcks.

21/11/2025

Protestors will be paddling in a group demonstration of solidarity and revolt against fossil fuel companies at Dyoondalup Point Walter next week.

Paddle for the Planet will join community and environmental groups “calling for the end” of WA fossil fuel developments, with a paddle out onto the Swan.

The event coincides with the Rising Tide People’s Blockade in Newcastle, says Conservation Council of WA senior campaigner Greta Carroll.

“Rising Tide started from communities directly impacted by the exports of coal from Newcastle Port… people who see massive companies profiting from Australia’s natural resources while towns are under-resourced and locals struggle to make ends meet,” Ms Carroll said.

“In WA we’re in the same boat, our state is the third largest exporter of gas in the world, but most of it is sent overseas royalty-free.

“Companies like Chevron and Woodside are making huge profits off WA’s gas while we struggle with the cost of living which is only going up as the climate crisis continues…they make billions while we get ripped off.”

It’s also an opportunity to campaign for “greater protection” for WA’s natural resources, according to Ms Carroll.

“These places are part of our identity as West Australians, but our reefs, beaches, rivers, and forests are all being directly impacted by climate change, and it’s only getting worse,” Ms Carroll said.

Read full story at www.fremantleherald.com.

20/11/2025

The Leeuwin Foundation has expressed support for an Australian Transport Safety Bureau report into last year’s Maersk Shekou collision.

According to the ATSB’s report, the Maersk Shekou’s primary pilot did not inform its helmsman with a “planned port 10 degree helm order” which would have turned the ship into the inner harbour.

“This mean that as the pilot attempted to use the main engine and four attached tugs to turn the ship, the helmsman attempted to maintain the ship on the previously instructed heading of 083 degrees, rigorously opposing the ship’s planned turn,” the report said.

The ship then collided with the Maritime Museum before crushing the Leeuwin.

ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell says the Maersk Shekou’s bridge team “ineffectively implemented bridge resource management practices” and “failed to adequately monitor” the ship’s berth into the harbour. Mr Mitchell also referred to the Maersk Shekou’s secondary pilot who was “distracted” from monitoring the entrance manoeuvre while taking a “non-essential mobile phone call”.

Leeuwin Foundation CEO Lawson Dixon expressed support for the ATSB’s conclusions about the ship, which is currently “in the final stages” of repair.

“We are grateful to the ATSB for their thorough investigation which has allowed for a clearer understanding of the events that led to the accident,” Mr Dixon said.

“Likewise, we’re encouraged that Fremantle Ports moved swiftly to put in place appropriate protocols to help prevent any recurrence.”

19/11/2025

A national able-bodied bench-press record is poised to be broken by wheelchair user Kristin Templeman at a Fremantle powerlifting competition next month.

Ms Templeman, who was born with spina bifida, hydrocephalus and scoliosis, started powerlifting just one year ago.

Next month, she’ll be attempting to break the record at the Deadliest Deadlift and Bench Press Competition in Freo, competing in the able-bodied category and bench-pressing 65 kilos

Ms Templeman admits she didn’t think she’d “come this far” in such a short amount of time, especially in the face of a lifetime of wheelchair use and health complications.

“When I watched the Paralympics last year, I’d only been doing this for a couple of months, and I was watching them lift and [thought to myself], ‘there’s no way I could do that’,” Ms Templeman said.

“I was told as a child I would never be able to compete against able bodied people, and I was always different… to think that I could actually get the national record [is pretty special].”

Ms Templeman says she’s “very nervous” to compete but is keen to define a different picture of people living with disabilities, the stereotypes of which can be “very frustrating”.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/ucbuat42.

18/11/2025

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18/11/2025

A town hall meeting is required for residents to contribute to the future of the Leeming Recreation Centre, according to a local community advocate.

The Chook spoke to our regular consultant on all things Leeming, Con Abbott, who has once again demanded the community have an earlier say about the future of the rec centre, which is currently being investigated by the City of Melville and could be a “life changing” decision for the suburb.

“The City had a consultation process with what they termed ‘stakeholders’, except what I believe is the most important stakeholder, and that is the local community,” Mr Abbott said.

“The City asks for input from the community about all kinds of things… the one that’s sticking in my head at the moment is the ferry terminal at the Raffles, and there’s no doubt they’re regularly inviting comments and feedback, but there hasn’t even been an email [about the LRC].

“I think a ‘town hall’ is the best way, because people have got busy lives… I think, for the investment, one or two nights by management and the [City] to gauge what people want from the future of the LRC.”

City of Melville CEO Gail Bowman says there will be “comprehensive community engagement” next year, pending input from the Department of Education thanks to Leeming Senior High School’s use of the facility.

“The Leeming Recreation Centre forms part of the provision of facilities for the Leeming Senior High School and so at this stage, the City needs to understand the Department of Education’s future views which will determine the options the City has moving forward,” Ms Bowman said.

Mr Abbott appears not to buy that reasoning, saying he does not know why it’s “being put up as a barrier” for community consultation."

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/ywr28wt8.

17/11/2025

For almost five decades, Ruocco's Pizzeria E Ristorante has been a South Fremantle landmark where locals come not just to eat, but to feel at home. Since opening its doors in 1978, Ruocco’s has become part of the fabric of Fremantle life.

A Herald and Perth Voice promotional feature If you’d like your restaurant featured, email [email protected] Walk in on any night and you’ll find three generations gathered around tabl…