Future of Fremantle

An economic development strategy to promote future economic growth, investment, and employment into Fremantle

A land use plan of the Inner harbor that builds on the unique identity of Fremantle | Walyalup and is shared by the community

Best practice engagement process bringing a new era of investment into the area through diverse industry sectors

Reposition Fremantle | Walyalup as a world-class city and tourism destination

Challenges

For more than 120 years, Fremantle | Walyalup has been home to a working port. A rare opportunity to repurpose the port arises from Westport, the proposed relocation of the Fremantle container facilities to a new outer harbor.
The Future of Fremantle proposes to establish a new and aspirational vision for the long-term redevelopment of the Fremantle inner harbor through a highly collaborative community and stakeholder engagement process.
Managing all stakeholders to help each understand the immense project scale and long-term delivery horizons to ensure stakeholder collaboration remained focused on the strategic nature of project objectives.
Shifting the mindset of all stakeholders from a business-as-usual planning approach to attain an aspirational redevelopment opportunity without compromising the existing transport network.
Synthesizing an eclectic and complex interrelationship of issues and ideas into a clear project vision that articulates the wide-ranging economic roles for a new city, while embracing Fremantle’s distinctive characteristics that defines its local and global appeal as a place to live and visit.

Solutions

Hatch is leading a multidisciplinary team to prepare an economic development strategy and strategic land use plan that will reflect the long-term redevelopment vision of the Fremantle Inner Harbour, developed in collaboration with the community a diverse mix of stakeholders.
A fit-for-purpose engagement plan and the application of diverse skills were required to unite all stakeholders across business sectors, government, and community to a robust project vision.
Incorporation of client gateways in the project plan facilitated orderly reporting against project expectations, management of political influences, and advice to consider project risks.
Accessibility to a range of international technical expertise was instrumental to benchmarking project aspirations, while the local capability incorporated contributions by ensuring relevant application to project need.

Highlights

The ambitious port repurposing project will be recognized as the largest project of this type globally.
The future-of-fremantle-place-and-economic-directions-report.pdf (www.wa.gov.au) established clarity on a wide ranging collection of matters arising from technical investigations and early community and stakeholder engagement. This was done by synthesizing all the information and collaboratively agreeing foundation principles that transcended across defining project directions.
Through further stakeholder engagement, this report has established the foundation for an emerging project vision that encapsulates inward and outward perspectives for the project
Competent integration of the economic and place context and attributes of this unique opportunity into one narrative.

Project numbers

260 hectares of land - equivalent to around 30 Australian Rules football stadiums
350+ visioning day engagement participants
37 survey respondents
18 place directions workshop participants
80 Aboriginal Elders workshop participants
62 focus groups participants
43 youth focus group participants