Portrait of bride and groom by church
Camera IconPortrait of bride and groom by church Credit: Supplied/Getty Images/Pixland

Revival plans focused on mall

Jessica Nico, Fremantle GazetteFremantle Gazette

The City says the mall is classified as a Pedestrian Access Way, restricting its ability to lease or licence any part of it for uses such as market stalls, retail trading areas or alfresco dining areas.

Planning projects and policy manager Paul Garbett said the lack of activity fronting the walkway in the mall and the few pedestrians using it resulted in continual vandalism and security problems.

Because of this, the council proposed to ask for the temporary closure of a section of the walkway to allow the land to be leased directly to the City from the Department of Regional Development and Lands, which would in turn allow the City to start negotiations to bring activity back into the area.

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Mr Garbett said there had been various proposals over a number of years to address the issues surrounding anti-social behaviour in the past but they had had little success.

‘If the council proceeds with the closure process, the timing could take up to 12 to 18 months depending on the outcome of consultation and consideration of the proposal by the WA Planning Commission,’ he said.

Fremantle Chamber of Commerce chief executive Tim Milsom said there were 17 different owners of the Westgate Mall and one of them had said they could do something with the mall if they could buy it off the City.

‘The developer wants to turn it into a shopping mall again,’ he said.

‘It’s a great space and I would like to see something done with it.’