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The OFFICIAL page of Fremantle's locally owned, independent newspaper.

09/09/2026

The City of Fremantle has confirmed it has dropped plans for a Christmas Market on the Esplanade Reserve.

The council told the Herald the decision was made following feedback from stakeholders, including bricks and mortar businesses that were concerned it might take away their trade.

The City said the decision was taken two weeks ago, before Fremantle Chamber of Commerce CEO Chrissie Maus raised her concerns in the Herald last (“CEO not so cheery about markets,”)

08/09/2026

An innovative new festival, Make/shift, will make its debut in Fremantle this month to share, debate and create ideas in building better futures.

Organised by Good Together and Berlin Creative the festival runs for two weeks from September 4-18 with 19 public events such as quiz nights, film screenings and artistic endeavours, to a conversation series which discusses topics like AI, democracy and inequality.

Good Together co-director Matt Berry says Make/shift is an opportunity for ordinary people who are worried about the direction our futures are heading in to get involved in big conversations like climate change, AI, the housing crisis and cost of living crisis.

“We wanted spaces where we could talk about bigger, more ambitious, more creative responses to the big challenges that the world is facing at the moment,” Mr Berry said.

“We’re not a big fan of the futures on offer at the moment. There’s just a story of doom and collapse.”

Good Together co-director Joni Sercombe says the festival aims to create a sense of community among like-minded individuals to combat feelings of loneliness and powerlessness.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/muxxytm3.

07/09/2026

A tightly divided Melville has released a plan to regulate trees on private property for public comment after it narrowly passed with mayor Katy Mair using her casting vote.

The draft policy that could require landowners to seek approval before removing or significantly damaging some medium and large trees.

The decision came after council rejected a rival motion to abandon the proposed regulations altogether.

The alternative motion, moved by Cr Michael McGoldrick and seconded by Cr Nicole Robins, would instead have clarified that tree-damaging activity on private land was exempt from development approval.

It was defeated 5–6, with Crs Robins, Clive Ross, Jennifer Spanbroek, Crawford Yorke and McGoldrick voting for it.

Mayor Mair and Crs Karen Wheatland, Daniel Lim, Soo Hong, Scott Green and George Panayotou voted against.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/y67me6z3.

04/09/2026

Six almost-completed homes in Hilton have sat empty for years while another six partially built townhouses in nearby Hamilton Hill were demolished this week, prompting Greens MLC Brad Pettitt to accuse the Cook government of failing to finish housing projects.

The Hamilton Hill demolition follows the collapse of Inspired Homes in April 2025 and the subsequent discovery of construction problems that led to DevelopmentWA deciding they should be demolished and rebuilt.

But for Dr Pettitt, it’s part of a bigger problem involving a string of government-owned housing sites across Fremantle.

He says six architecturally designed social homes in Hilton are still unfinished more than four years after construction began, despite being about 90 per cent complete.

“The builder went broke April ‘25, so work stopped since then,” Dr Pettitt said.

“By July of that year, we’re getting people saying ‘what’s going on on this site,’ so then we started asking questions of government.”

The Hamilton Hill townhouses, at Yongka Road in the OneOneFive development, were being built by Inspired Homes for DevelopmentWA.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/4cxbrpzw.

03/09/2026

East Fremantle's men’s and women’s football clubs have rebooted merger talks after a previous attempt to unite the clubs fell apart, putting almost 40 years of women’s football history back on the negotiating table.

The women’s club, which was formed in 1988 and retains its own board and constitution, had rejected a merger in 2022 after the EFFC would not recognise its life memberships and playing records dating back to the beginning of women’s football in WA.

The WA Women’s Football League was brought under the control of WAFL clubs in 2019, but last year the Chook found out East Freo’s women’s club had been playing under the Shark’s banner for four years without amalgamating.

The women’s club, which has its own board and constitution, wanted the EFFC to recognise their life memberships and games played since 1988 – not since the 2019 rebrand.

The EFFC dug its heels in, so the women’s club voted against merging, resulting in female players seeing their statistics erased and being told not to celebrate what would have been significant career achievements.

A sustained campaign by the women’s club saw a turnaround at the Sharks earlier this year, with the EFFC released a statement saying it now recognised “all senior state league matches, including both WAFLW and former WAWFL competitions”, acknowledging women’s games dating back to the league’s beginning.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/4xxjeym3.

02/09/2026

A public fundraising campaign is being put together for Fremantle’s Tiny Homes project, which aims to give homeless people living a stepping stone towards independence.

The community-driven Transitional Tiny Housing Pilot Project will house 10 residents at a time who will be provided with wrap-around support services for up to three years.

Ros De Souza has been one of the project’s driving forces and says the idea grew out of years’ worth of frustration watching the same problems on repeat.

“Every day is Groundhog Day; I, and others, came to realise that one-size housing doesn’t fit all,” Ms De Souza said.

While the steering committee has been driving the project, the City of Fremantle has helped narrow down potential sites from the original 15 to just two, although Ms De Souza says she’s not yet at liberty to disclose their whereabouts.

She says the team behind the project come from different backgrounds but share a common vision of wanting to bring it to life in Fremantle.

Their expertise includes experience in business, accounting, local government, arts, project management and social housing.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/ay98ds4c.

01/09/2026

Fremantle Chamber of Commerce CEO Chrissie Maus has raised concerns that a proposed three-day Christmas market could compete with the permanent businesses it is intended to support.

The City of Fremantle is planning the market at Esplanade Reserve from December 18 to 20 as part of A Very Freo Christmas.

Ms Maus said the Chamber supported the City investing in Christmas activation but questioned whether the market would divert spending from existing businesses during their most important trading period.

“The Chamber has been contacted by a number of members concerned about the City’s proposed three-day Christmas Market at Esplanade Reserve,” Ms Maus said.

“For Fremantle’s permanent traders, the weeks leading into Christmas are not just busy, they are critical.”

Ms Maus said many businesses carried significant costs throughout the year and relied on Christmas trading to finish strongly.

“It is therefore understandable that some are questioning whether a temporary market, operating in the heart of the city during this peak period, may draw spending away from existing businesses rather than adding to it.”

She said the key question was whether the market would increase spending across Fremantle or simply shift where people spent their money.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/4xxjeym3.

31/08/2026

A Booyeembara Park friends group says they’ve been “shocked” to discover long-awaited works in the park have been demoted in Fremantle council’s 10-year financial plan.

The park’s amphitheatre was closed about a decade ago when asbestos was discovered, while a billabong linked to its role as a reconciliation hub never got further than being a hole in the ground, and following the preparation of a new plan the friends had been eager to see things get back on track.

But long-term Friends of Booyeembara Park members Digby Hill and Stephanie Jennings fronted public question time after seeing the project slide back on the long-term plan.

“Four major projects in that park, which we were hoping were going to go ahead, and it looks like from what the budget is putting forward that none of them are going to be done for another few years,” Mr Hill said.

Community members had been enthusiastic about plans for the park’s amphitheatre, including picnic areas, open space, cycling access and facilities for community music, theatre and dance, he said.

“Acoustically, it’s perfect for all three of those things.”

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/24d94rhb.

28/08/2026

The City of Fremantle’s decision to cancel the 2026 Freo Pride Festival has left a sour taste in the mouths of local LGBTQIA+ advocates.

The festival was a free, family-friendly event held at the Fremantle Library and Walyalup Koort in 2024 and 2025 and featured market stalls, live music acts and art.

The event gave locals an alternate option to the Perth CBD Pride parade and provided local artists, performers and activists a space to be accepted, supported and collaborative.

But the council said it had “regrettably” made the decision not to run the event this year.

“The decision was largely driven by the discontinuation of funding support from the Department of Communities, which had previously enabled us to deliver this event,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

A Department of Communities spokesperson said Fremantle failed to secure the finances in a “competitive funding process, which attracted a strong field of applications from community organisations and local governments”.

Freo Pride Fest sponsor Headspace Fremantle said it respected the decision, but “we are deeply disappointed by the news and recognise the impact it will have on our local LGBTQIA+SB community”.

Cockburn Youth Advisory Collective member Leila Diaz said the cancellation was a “shame”.

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/yc23ccvd.

27/08/2026

Tania Douthwaite is a passionate marine conservationist, free diver and organiser of Fremantle's Underwater Film Festival.

"It is absolutely critical for local residents, fishers, and beachgoers to speak up now because an upcoming Department of Water and Environmental Regulation 'State Environmental Policy' review will set the legally binding environmental rules for our home waters – Derbal Nara – Cockburn Sound for the next few decades.

Once this window closes on September 8, the foundational “values” of the Sound will be locked in.

If the community does not heavily out-vocalise major industrial interests, the policy will be skewed toward industrial utility rather than ecological and recreational protection.

Local input right now is vital for several pressing reasons:

1. Counteracting a wave of unprecedented industrial pressure
Cockburn Sound is facing the largest, most concentrated surge of industrial and military development in its modern history."

Read full story at https://tinyurl.com/4pb95emj.

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