We’ve had a strong focus on improving community engagement, starting with the renewal of the City’s Strategic Community Plan - the City’s most significant guiding document which establishes the community’s long term aspirations and vision for Fremantle’s future. The public engagement for this project reached over 4,900 people - setting a new benchmark and expectations for future community engagement.

The priorities articulated in the Strategic Community Plan have been reflected in a number of supporting plans including the Arts, Culture and Creative Strategy, Public Open Space Strategy, Youth Strategy and the development of the City Plan.

Council has also focussed on empowering the community by working collaboratively with Town Teams and where possible handing assets back to community to run, for example the North Freo Bowlo.

Following some tough years during COVID, a focus on responsible budgeting has returned Fremantle to a position of financial health with positive results on all Local Government Financial Indicators.

A ‘back to basics’ approach has boosted footpath repairs in both the CBD and suburbs and doubled street cleaning capacity. We’ve worked to slow local streets, introducing a trial 40km/h zone in Hilton, and supported community advocacy for State Government funding for a new signalised pedestrian crossing on Hampton Rd near Scott St.

Maintaining the City’s many heritage assets remains a priority, with works including the Town Hall balcony restoration, repairs to the Fremantle Leisure Centre, and the installation of 24/7 public toilets at two CBD locations.

In the past four years, Council has approved 678 new city centre apartments and 500 short-stay or hotel rooms. Strong investment confidence has brought significant new businesses, with thriving hospitality precincts on High St in the West End and around the Warders Cottages and Old Courthouse. Two new supermarkets have opened, and Council has supported social housing projects including My Home, Uniting’s Wyn Carr House, and the St Pats Community Support Centre redevelopment.

Despite market challenges, Council continues to back new residential developments. Fremantle’s high sustainability standards have been strengthened with the inclusion of Life Cycle Assessment in the latest budget, helping residents understand and reduce the carbon impact of their planned homes.

Freo’s beaches are iconic–and loved by locals and visitors alike–but their facilities needed improvement. In the past four years, we’ve delivered (in partnership with the WA Government) sand nourishment at Port Beach, more parking between Port and Leighton, a new playground at Leighton, change rooms and new BBQs at South Beach (with more parking on the way). A new protected swimming area at Bather’s Beach will be installed before summer thanks to State Government funding, along with improved facilities. Based on the South Beach Place plan developed with the community, we also achieved $2.46million in Federal funding to support the installation of new toilets and improved amenity at South Beach Dog Beach. Following the unfortunate fatal shark attacks inFremantle, we led the way by introducing a ban on shark fishing, a move which was then adopted across the Perth metropolitan area.

Freo has some of the best known sporting clubs in the metropolitan area–but they are struggling to keep pace with demand as population grows and female participation increases. Over the past four years, we’ve worked closely with local clubs to agree plans for the future so they can continue to grow and thrive, while also reserving space for passive recreation such as dog-walking. We’ve got financial reserves to match the State and Federal funding opportunities and are having success with our advocacy, including $3.75million from the Federal Government to assist with the delivery of theHilton Park Masterplan projects.

We have mounted a sustained effort over many years to address canopy coverage in our city and suburbs, and in 2025-26 have allocated funding to plant more trees than ever before. We support the activities of dedicated Friends of Groups across the neighbourhoods, and have worked with local communities to develop and deliver plans for our natural areas. Based on the work done in the Samson Park Masterplan process we were successful in gaining $1.73 million for Samson Park from the Federal Government, to restore wetlands and improve amenity

Fremantle’s creative community is central to its character, and protecting it is vital in the face of gentrification. The City’s Arts, Culture and Creative Strategy guides support for our creative capital through arts grants, Fremantle Arts Centre/Moores Contemporary residencies and exhibitions, major festivals, and partnerships with local arts organisations.

Council is also working to balance residential growth with a thriving live music scene, recognising music as an essential part of Fremantle’s culture. As a proudly ‘Film Friendly’ city, Fremantle has seen a surge in local productions, with a record 54 filming applications in 2025 so far, up from 40 in all of 2024.

Not only do Fremantle’s retail and hospitality operators benefit from the attraction of major events to our city–it’s also a lot of fun for locals and reminds us that our city is one of the truly magnificent places to share with the world, and efforts in this space were recognised by Fremantle winning WA’s Top Tourism Town in 2025. With the support of our expert Destination Marketing Working Group, and by partnering with the WA Government and Tourism Council, we’ve won the rights to host significant conferences such as the National Cruise Conference and National Tourism Awards. The biggest win by far though is SailGP–a three year deal that will see thousands of sailing enthusiasts flock to Fremantle for one of the most exciting and spectacular racing events in the world. One a more local level, the City of Fremantle runs free holiday activations to bring families to town–with the recent winter Lego activation attracting 8000 children plus their families to visit Fremantle.

In 2024 Fremantle adopted its second ‘Stretch’ Reconciliation Action Plan, the highest level of RAP possible for a Local Government. With decades of investment in building strong and constructive relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities, it was unsurprising that the Yes vote in the Fremantle local government area was strong–up to 75% yes in some booths. With the guidance of the very active Walyalup RAP group, the focus in the past year has been on Truth-telling, which has been warmly embraced by our local community.

Over the past years, Fremantle has led the way with innovative homelessness services–like the Library Connect program, mental health outreach program and support services map. There is now excellent collaboration across all the agencies who provide homelessness services. Family and Domestic Violence continues to be a major challenge in the region, and the Fremantle Community Legal Centre provides a very valuable resource to those in need of help, with the ongoing support of Council. In this term, Council also voted to include FDV as an eligibility criteria under our Financial Hardship Policy