Get the Premier to turn the heritage listed bridge into a community park for pedestrians and cyclists!

The fight’s not over!

Government doesn’t want you to know this. We secured all of Main Road’s reports on the Old Freo bridge, and despite what they have been spinning for years, the bridge is in good nick. Mains Roads has lost its battle to keep the truth from the public. It took three years, but our Freedom of Information Act application forced Main Roads to give The Save the Old Fremantle Bridge Alliance ALL their reports. And when Australia’s leading timber bridge experts - the very engineers governments all over Australia use to fix and build timber bridges - reviewed the reports they said there’s nothing wrong with the bridge that would prevent it from being repurposed as a Highline for pedestrians and cyclists.

You’re invited! 

Expert Panel & Media Briefing

Thursday 7 December, 12 noon

Old Fremantle Bridge (East side by the lawn, near Jetty Bar) 

Hear these and other leading experts, including Former, WA Premier and Chair of the Australian Heritage Council speak in support of the bridge.

• Dr Carmen Lawrence AO - Former Premier of Western Australia and Former Chair of the Australian Heritage Council.
• Dr Dan Tingley, Ph.D, P.Eng, MIEAust, CPEng, RPEQ - International Timber Bridge Expert Engineer and Wood Technologist - Wood Research and Development (USA). Dan holds over 40 published patents worldwide in the field of wood and high strength fiber composites, has written over 150 conference and journal publications, and has been awarded the Charles Pankow and NOVA award for Construction Innovation. He has designed hundreds of structural designs for timber buildings and bridges in service around the world, and has designed restoration solutions for hundreds of old timber structures, including the famous Frank Lloyd Wright structure called 'Wingspread' in Racine Wisconsin.
• Patrick Bigg, Australian Timber Bridge Expert - Civil Engineer, General Manager, Timber Restoration Services. Constructed and restored heritage bridges and structures throughout Australia & Canada including South Arm Bridge in Byron Bay, timber infrastructure on the World Heritage Listed K’gari Island (Formerly known as Fraser Island) including working with the Butchulla traditional owners, Roger Bacon Bridge (Canada), Heritage Walkway Bridge (West Gray, Canada)
• Hon. Dr Brad Pettitt - Greens MLC, WA State Parliament. Former Mayor of Fremantle. Long term advocate of repurposing the bridge as a Highline. Fremantle resident
• Hon. Dr Brian Walker MLC, Deputy Chair of Committees. Fremantle Resident.
• Also hear from tourism, boating, architectural and business experts

 

Old Fremantle Bridge 84th Birthday Party & Photo

Sunday 10 December, 11am-1pm

East Freo River Foreshore overlooking the bridge

Stroll, cycle, walk the dog, bring the kids, run, or push a pram over the old bridge…or kayak and boat under it, then join us on the grass on the East Freo foreshore overlooking the bridge. Help us celebrate the Old Bridge’s 84th birthday in advance of her birthday on 19 Dec 2023. Show your support to save the bridge. Be in our Supporters Group Photo. This is your opportunity to thank the old bridge and toast her future as a Highline for the people! You’re invited to join us on free tours of the bridge and hear a famous WA singer sing Happy Birthday, post a selfie with the bridge and spread the word. Listen to experts as they tell you more about this old hero. Bring a picnic, a guitar, your voice, a birthday cake to share. You might also like to bring a padlock decorated with your name on it, to lock to the bridge in a sign of solidarity for her continuing life. We are kicking off this global tradition in Freo to show others our love for the old bridge and desire to keep her. 

Old Fremantle Bridge Sunday Celebrations

Every Sunday over Summer!

11am-12noon

East Freo River Foreshore overlooking the bridge

Enjoy a Sunday walk, run or bicycle ride over the bridge every Sunday during Summer. Or enjoy the spectacular view of the bridge from the water in a kayak or boat. Join Friends of the Old Freo Bridge on the grass on the East Freo foreshore overlooking the bridge to continue celebrating this spectacular location and WA icon.  Show your support to save the old bridge just by enjoying her and meeting others! Picnic, busk, have a coffee, enjoy a glass of wine at the alfresco restaurants and cafes, bring your food truck, your family and friends, your dog. We’ll be glad to meet you!

Consider bringing a padlock decorated with your name on it, and lock it to the bridge in a sign of support for her continuing life. This international sign of love invented by global travellers and lovers is kicking off right here in Freo to show the world we want to keep the old Freo bridge. Celebrate the old bridge’s 84th year in the summer sunshine beside her every Sunday.

 

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We’ve worked hard on your behalf for the past 4 years to try and save the old bridge.

It’s not been easy.

With the change of Premier, let’s hope we can turn things around! Help us encourage Roger Cook to consider the facts that Main Roads have been keeping from the public. With fresh eyes hopefully he will see the incredible potential WA has to create the world’s first Highline over a river and sea by repurposing the old bridge. Unfortunately his Planning and Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti doesn’t. She continues to tell the public there’s no other option. But we now know there is. 

We may need a new bridge. But let’s tell Main Roads and Government, that’s no reason to destroy an old one! Particularly a bridge that has WA’s highest level of State heritage listing attributed to any structure or property. It is accredited by the Heritage Council of Western Australia and considered of “Extreme significance” and supposed to be protected by the Heritage Act. 

What’s worrying is that WA’s Premier has the power to overturn the Heritage Act and decisions of the Heritage Council, as the Premier did a few years ago when the Government dismantled the heritage listing of Mandurah Bridge which was knocked down despite community opposition. The bridge was demolished by foreign owned, UK private engineering firm, Laing O'Rourke; the same company the Government has appointed to assess, cost, undertake community engagement, build the new bridge, and destroy the old bridge. They’ve spent $57 million on the project so far and all the public has got for its money, after 3 years are; four mediocre location options - none of which kept the heritage listed bridge - and which at the time of their announcement caused community outrage and 6000 people to sign this petition, and a design of what a new bridge might look like.

The community says: it’s not a bad new bridge design. But it’s in the wrong place!

We want the Government to listen to urban planners who have a better location for the new bridge, and to the community who wants to keep the old bridge. 

How fantastic would it be to stroll over the old bridge, walk your dog, push a pram, cycle with friends or family in the safety and peace of an environment without cars or trucks?  How blissful to picnic on the foreshore overlooking the bridge without the noise or fumes of passing cars? How incredible to sit and listen to musicians and buskers perform on the bridge whilst watching the sun set over Fremantle harbour and the sea? How beautiful to greet the sunrise as it sparkles over the Swan river in the mornings? All this will be gone by next year if the old bridge goes. Our foreshore, our opportunity to have the world’s first Highline built over a river and sea - our spectacular entrance into the Perth’s historic tourism jewel of Fremantle would be lost if a new bridge was built in the old bridge’s location. 

Freo’s Mayor, Hannah Fitzharding, entrusted with looking after Freo’s heritage, wants the old bridge demolished. At the last election, she was the only Mayoral candidate to vote AGAINST saving the bridge. She kept her opinion secret from voters until the day AFTER her election victory. On this day she announced on the front page of a leading newspaper her lack of support for the old bridge “Build a Bridge and Get Over It” was the headline. A message to all of us! She wants the old bridge torn down. So too does Freo’s State and Federal representatives. Simone McGurk refused to accept this petition when handed it at her greet the public meeting at the Freo Town Hall by two members of her constituency. It had 4000 signatories at that stage. Now it has close to 10,000! Federal Freo rep, Josh Wilson says it’s a shame but is continuing to endorse the bridge’s destruction.

Don’t let Government or Main Rods convince you that the heritage listed bridge can’t be saved.

Our investigations have found that neither Main Roads nor the Government has ever commissioned a report on repurposing the bridge for cyclists and pedestrians. This is despite pleas from the community, AND the recommendation of the Australian Institute of Architects which singled out old Freo bridge in its “Foundations for a Stronger Tomorrow - State Infrastructure 2021 Report” for Infrastructure WA as one of Western Australia’s major historic infrastructure structures that should be preserved and repurposed for community use.  

The funny thing is. After finally receiving Main Roads Reports on the old bridge, It’s ironic but the engineering experts say it’s the concrete Main Roads has been pouring on the old bridge for decades that has contributed to its degradation. In some parts the concrete was found to be in a worse condition than the timber. 

Urban planners want a new bridge in a different location. One where the public can enjoy the old one, and where the new bridge can better serve Freo’s imminent growth when Fremantle Port leaves. Little adequate transport planning has been undertaken by Main Roads to manage the transport of the tens of thousands of new residents slated for the Leighton peninsular. We hear Freo Port was willing to provide land for the new bridge….but when the various bridge locations were announced, we hear the Port had not even been asked, so no locations within it were considered. It’s ludicrous that the old bridge is not included in the Master planning for Fremantle that’s being decided right now. The Government says it doesn’t have time. But the government does. It has spent $23 million over the past 6 years making the old bridge safe for cars, pedestrians and boats; modifying the bridge to remove pylons to allow easier marine navigation. If the bridge can handle 20 tonne trucks travelling over the bridge at 60 km per hour, it can serve us until the Government has time to do proper planning.

Show your support this week. Join with us to let the Government, Main Roads and the media know your views. Tell them your story and your connection to the bridge!

Things you can do:

 

Write to the Government. Ask them to move the new bridge to a more sensible location. Keep the heritage listed bridge and turn it into a Highline for the people.

Forward this petition to more friends and family and ask them to sign. 

Tell your story and share your expertise on the bridge to the public and social media

Join our group of friendly, supportive volunteers to help on admin, events, publicity, in fact anything you’d like to contribute to save and repurpose the bridge. We need more hands and would love more friends to join us.  

Lock a colourful padlock to the bridge to show you care.

Write to the media, Main Roads, and WA Heritage Council to let them know your views, and the real story of the bridge.

Main Roads Director General, Peter Woronzow, says the bridge is unsafe and in disrepair. But that’s not true. Main Roads reports are based on keeping the 24,000 cars, 20 tonnes trucks and buses driving over it each day. They’ve never done an assessment to repurpose it for pedestrian and cyclists which top engineers conclude would take 90% off the load on this 84 year Western Australian transport icon. Plus the Government just spent $23 million dollars over the past 6 years repairing it, making it safe for boats and users.

Planning Minister Rita Saffioti has $115 mil of State and $115 mil of Federal money to build a new bridge in Freo. Why not move cycling and pedestrian use from the NEW bridge, to the old bridge? We recommend the Government allocate the associated budget to repurpose the old bridge into a Highline for pedestrians and cyclists. After all, who wants to cycle or walk over a bridge when cars and trucks are literally metres away? Who wants the pollution, the noise, the safety risk? You only have to look at the neighboring Stirling Bridge. There’s a reason few pedestrians and cyclists use Stirling bridge; it’s noisy, polluted, and cars and trucks are too close. There are too many vehicles. People prefer to use the old bridge because it has less traffic. Imagine if there was NO traffic? Amazing!

And what’s even more amazing is our plan to connect the old bridge to the coastal trail that extends from Cockburn to Hillarys, and residents in Perth’s East and North via Perth’s new cycleways. What a way to welcome all of Perth to Fremantle and beyond through the golden jewel of a cycling and pedestrian Highline.

Minister for Heritage, Culture and the Arts; David Templeman should tell Transport Minister Saffioti to get her hands off our A1 heritage bridge. But he continues to advise us when we request meetings or explanations to talk to the Transport Minister (who refuses meetings). Minister Templeman has given the responsibility of caretaking this heritage asset to the Transport Minister. Why?

Encourage the WA Heritage Council members to tell the State Government to find a new location for the new bridge, and to keep the old one for the community. WA Heritage Council should be able to fulfill its role of protecting our heritage listed buildings and infrastructure without interference from Government.  Government and Main Roads should obey our heritage laws...just like we do! WA Heritage Council needs your support and encouragement. They tell us that every letter of support they receive from the public makes a difference. So keep writing!

Would you consider helping the Indigenous community to convince the Government to refrain from damaging the Swan River’s seabed, water flow and disrupting marine life through its plan to demolish the old bridge. Preserving the integrity of the existing marine environment was one of the top priorities of the Indigenous Heritage Committee which was engaged by Main Roads to give guidance on the Swan River Crossings project. But what did the indigenous community get instead? Colossal upheaval of the river. A new bridge with massive concrete structures that will take years to build and cause decades of havoc and irreversible damage. Plus the unnecessary damage caused by ripping out a heritage listed timber bridge with its 84 years of integration with the marine environment.. Leave the old timber bridge. Cause zero damage. 

If you are keen to elevate your support, please email or phone the Premier, Minister Saffioti and Minister Templeman, the Heritage Council or Fremantle Council and others tell them what you think. 

Premier of Western Australia, Roger Cook, wa-government@dpc.wa.gov.au (p) (08) 6552-5000

Minister of Transport and Tourism Rita Saffioti (e) ‎Minister.Saffioti@dpc.wa.gov.au (p) 6552 5500

WA Minister for Tourism; Culture and the Arts; Heritage David Templeman Minister.Templeman@dpc.wa.gov.au (08) 6552-5400

Or contact your local MP.

Fremantle - Simone McGurk (e) fremantle@mp.wa.gov.au (p) 9336 7000

Cottesloe - David Honey (e) david.honey.cottesloe@mp.wa.gov.au (p) 93831505

Fremantle (Federal) - Josh Wilson (e) josh.wilson.mp@aph.gov.au0 (p) 9335 8555

Find your local Federal MP here https://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian_Search_Results?q=&sta=WA

Find your State Govt Member here

https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/memblist.nsf/WAssemblyMembers?openform

You might also like to let Main Roads and the WA Heritage Council know how you feel.

Main Roads, Director General, Peter Woronzow, Email enquiries@mainroads.wa.gov.au 138 138

Heritage Council of WA, Chair, Nerida Moredoundt, info@dplh.wa.gov.au 6551 8002

Thank you for your support.