Fremantle is bursting at the seams with development, but is the sudden urbanisation of a once salty, seaside town gradually destroying its creative culture?

Despite the port city looking like it needed a lick of paint, music and the arts were its beating heart, and it oozed a rustic charm.

Fremantle council has recently opened its doors to developers in a bid to boost the number of residents living in the CBD, aiming to transform the city into a thriving, world-class coastal precinct.

However, the revamp of the heart of the city is bringing a NIMBYism that threatens its cultural soul.

Last month, West End bar and retro games venue Palace Arcade had to shut up shop after five years because nearby residents complained about the noise.

The owners of Palace Arcade took to social media to explain that they had made the difficult decision to move on.

“Due to ongoing noise complaints from our neighbours and the threat of some huge fines, we’ve been unable to host our much-loved music events,” they said.

“Without those, it just didn’t feel right to commit to another five years on High Street.”

Earlier this year, musicians rallied outside Freo.Social after the much-loved venue faced the threat of closure due to complaints from the owners of a swanky hotel just metres from its front door.

Freo.Social managing director James Legge told this masthead at the time that it would be catastrophic for the music industry if the 550-seat venue were forced to shut down.

“If that wasn’t there, then it would leave a big hole in the Western Australian music community,” he said.

The music was allowed to keep playing, for now.

But recently, a handful of locals living near line-dancing bar Honky Tonks asked Fremantle council to reject the club’s bid to expand the premises because of the boisterous boot-scooting.

The locals lost, so Honky Tonk’s hoedowns will carry on at the High Street pub after the council approved the expansion.

Greens MLC and former Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt told this masthead the port city needed thousands more people living in its centre – but that must not come at the cost of its vibrant core and live music venues.

“It should be up to the new apartments and hotels moving in to make sure that they are designed and soundproofed in a way that ensures nearby venues don’t need to change how they operate,” he said.

“Whoever is there first should have the right to keep operating, which new developments need to respond to. ”

Pettitt said parts of the city should be designated as live music entertainment precincts to safeguard existing venues.

In September, the WA government announced Northbridge would be the state’s first special entertainment precinct to protect the dwindling live music scene.

“If it’s good enough for Northbridge, it should be good enough for Fremantle too,” Pettitt said.

“While protecting Freo.Social was a good first step it is not the broader strategic response that Fremantle needs.”

However, Creative Industries Minister Simone McGurk – also the local MP – said a special entertainment precinct wasn’t a “one-size-fits-all approach”.

“Northbridge and Fremantle are different communities, with more residents living and working in inner Fremantle than in the entertainment precinct of Northbridge,” she said.

“I live in Freo and I see gigs there – and I believe we can get the balance right. As a state government we are focused on striking the right balance between housing and tourism accommodation, and our creative industries.”

Newly elected Fremantle mayor Ben Lawver said the city had recently formed a working group to look at how new developments and live venues could co-exist.

“It’s a bit like the adage, you move next to an airport and then you complain about the noise,” he said.

“If you’re moving into Fremantle, you should expect to hear some live music if you’re sitting outside on your porch or occasionally inside.”

But it’s not just the live music scene that is under siege in the port city.

Skateboarders have been fighting to save historic skate spots from development and gentrification.

The “Munchies” skate park on Beach Street was set to be flattened to make way for a car park until Transport Minister Rita Saffioti stepped in after skaters painted a no-parking sign across the park.

The skateboard community has also been campaigning for months to preserve a world-class skating ledge at the Elders Wool Stores from being demolished as part of the $110 million redevelopment plans for the dilapidated site.

The developers, Human Urban, recently won approval to destroy part of the 100-metre ledge to make room for two doorways.

Lawver had an ambitious proposal to save the ledge.

“Maybe we could move it to the other side of Cantonment Street and create some structure over it,” he said.

“You’re not going to really get good concrete like that any more, so maybe we could get some cranes and move it to the other side of the street.

“Where there is a will, there is a way”.

With developers eyeing off Fremantle, some lateral thinking might be on the cards to save the city’s arts and culture.

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