The City of Fremantle is exploring the possibility of expanding its seasonal and temporary trading policy to allow pop-up businesses in vacant public spaces, including empty shopfronts, beaches, foreshore areas, and parks. A draft plan has been released for community consultation, aiming to create a more vibrant and flexible urban environment.
Draft Policy Opens for Community Feedback
Residents can now have their say on the proposed revisions, which seek to revive empty storefronts and underutilised areas. The policy adjustments are designed to improve businesses' responsiveness to community demand by broadening the scope to include mobile food vendors and allowing occasional trading at vacant locations outside set timeframes. Traders could also trial new locations for up to 12 months, enabling the city to test site suitability before making it a permanent approved trading location.
Councillor Concerns Over Impact on Existing Businesses
Some councillors have raised concerns about how the plan might affect existing brick-and-mortar shops. Councillor Andrew Sullivan noted that while temporary trading is exciting, it raises the issue of potential negative impacts on permanent retailers. “A lot of these seasonal and temporary trading activities are simply trying to utilise opportunities to grab the cream of activity but not pay the bricks and mortar costs of permanent activity,” he said at the council’s April 22 meeting. He added that placing a pop-up in front of an empty shopfront on High Street could have unintended consequences for other traders in the area.
Councillor Melanie Clark, who owns a business, shared similar concerns but highlighted the incubator opportunity for new retailers. “What this can offer is an incubator opportunity from a retailer perspective for people who want to give it a go... But don’t do it by putting that container in front of an empty shop in the two parking bays that the surrounding businesses need for their customers to use,” she emphasised.
Support for Activating Vacant Spaces
Councillor Jemima Williamson-Wong argued that the potential to activate vacant spaces is positive for local businesses, as the city could be missing out on “amazing opportunities.” She pointed to locations like Pioneer Park, near the train station, where vacant buildings have sat for months or years. “Those locations might benefit from there being able to be a coffee van or a food van or perhaps a different type of commercial or retail enterprise,” she said. She proposed an amendment to make it clear that trialling locations at vacant sites is an option for traders, which was supported by Councillor Sullivan as long as it didn’t compete with existing businesses.
Policy Details and Next Steps
The revised policy will formalise guiding principles of accessibility, uniqueness, sustainability, and suitability to ensure consistent assessment of applications. Traders would apply through a seasonal expression of interest process, followed by an operations approval if successful. Councillors voted unanimously to put the proposed revisions to the public, with potential for further amendments later.
Director of city business Matthew Hammond said the changes indicate a flexible approach to business activation, allowing new ideas to be trialled and unlocking underutilised public spaces. “These policy changes provide greater clarity for businesses and the community, while ensuring we can continue to support the seasonal trading of small and unique enterprises as a way of activating our public spaces,” he said.
Community feedback can be submitted via My Say Freo until May 22.
