A plan to extend Fremantle’s picturesque Norfolk Street through to the Fishing Boat Harbour is drawing criticism from the local community.
Community consultation on the City of Fremantle initiative ends tomorrow on August 30th.
The project involves re-zoning a section of land between Marine Terrace and Mews Road to allow for an extension of Norfolk Street across the freight rail line, through to the renown waterside area.
City of Fremantle Mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge says the extension would allow for better connection from the city centre to the water.
“One of the big challenges we have in Fremantle is that even though we are surrounded on three sides by water, the connections through to our waterfront are not very clear. You can be standing in the city centre and not know that the waterfront is just down the road.”
The land on the west of Norfolk Street currently contains the Italian Club Fremantle and an outdoor carpark.
Mayor Fitzhardinge says both uses don’t serve the needs of a contemporary community like Fremantle.
She says the rezoning would allow the City of Fremantle to explore new development on the land, including residential opportunities, a revitalised Italian Club, and a new carpark.
John Dowson is the President of the Fremantle Society, a community-based culture and heritage advocacy group.
He supports the idea of a connection through to the harbour, but only if it is done right.
He is concerned by the size of the proposed development on the land, which contains a multi-storey carpark.
“Suddenly Fremantle goes from being a one and two-storey town, into a seven-storey town … it’s over the top,” he says.
Bob Searle is a resident who has lived on Norfolk Street for the last 20 years. He doesn’t believe the project is necessary in the first place.
Searle is also concerned by the dense development being proposed on the land.
He believes any of the multi-storey buildings being considered will “wreck the sight lines and sea breezes.”
For the project to proceed, the City of Fremantle will first need to ask permission from the WA Planning Commission to rezone the land.