It has been suggested that the name, Foundation Day, should be changed to WA Week.  The History Council does not support the proposal, believing that the name Foundation Day enables discussion and debate about the events both before and after 1 June 1829 in a way that WA Day cannot.

Our letter to the Perth Voice has been published in their 17 December 2011 issue.  You can see this and our other letters on our Waterfront webpage.

Following our successful waterfront forum on 10 November, 2011, Max Hipkins, Councillor with the Town of Nedlands and previously Town Planner for the City of Perth 2000 to 2005, sent us the following:

Max Hipkins Foreshore comparative plans

Yesterday, Shadow Minister for Heritage, John Hyde, MLA, moved a disallowance motion for the proposed Perth Waterfront Metropolitan Region Scheme Amendment.  Today, Shadow Minister for Transport, Ken Travers, MLC, did the same.

The WA Department of Planning has called for tenders to ‘deconstruct’ the Grand Palace Chinese Restaurant, as part of the ongoing push to redevelop the Perth Esplanade.  The building is included in the State heritage registration of the Perth Esplanade, but does not have separate listing. A proposal to relocate the building has been opposed by a number of heritage bodies, as it is not best practice, and should only be considered as a final resort.

At our Foreshore Forum on 10 November, the history and heritage of the Esplanade site was explored.  Reclamation commenced in 1868, taking over ten years to complete, to provide the city with a central recreation area.  It has been used for protests and parades, celebrations and commemoration since 1880.  It is the most used space on the foreshore.

The History Council has ongoing concerns about the way the heritage of the site has been largely ignored, and that due process for this important site is not being followed.

As a registered heritage site, best practice would be to include the Esplanade into the development and it is a pity that heritage considerations appear to have been included at the end of the project, rather than in the original brief for the site. Adaptive re-use , such as the development of additional public recreation facilities, such as a new gym or re-instatement of elements such as the tennis courts, perhaps with volleyball courts and skateboarding facilities, another cafe and an interpretation centre or City museum, would also have been appropriate. Only when all other alternatives have been considered should a heritage site be demolished. While the fate of the associated kiosk is being discussed, little attention appears to have been paid to the documenting the whole site as it is dug up.

Historical archaeologist, Gaye Nayton, has identified that the site, if properly excavated, has the potential to tell us much about the early history of commerce and transportation of the colony. A prehistory archaeology investigation is in place, but no historical archaeologist has been employed, meaning that understandings of the site as an archaeological site is currently limited to its Aboriginal connection. The site of the Esplanade was situated between two of the City’s major jetties, at Barrack St and William St. The archaeological evidence of these two jetties exists under the Esplanade, as they were probably used as retaining walls for the fill. Not only can we expect to find the jetties, but we can also expect to find items lost overboard from the barges coming up the river, or dropped from the jetties. Similarly, there will be an archaeological footprint from the Perth Bathing pavilion, built in 1885, which extended from the Esplanade into the river. There may even be remnants of the 1920s ‘White City’ site at the end of William St, where charities ran ‘spinning jenny’ lotteries, and aboriginal and European boxers and rodeo riders competed.

The Perth Esplanade is a major historical site. It is also reclaimed land. This does not negate its importance, but contributes to it. A lack of transparency and accountability may seriously affect our ability to document it and interpret it properly.