The last year has been a trying time for Fremantle and the deletion of the Fremantle Highway. We had to contend with the negative antics of the Liberal Party and associated conservative councils (Melville and Canning) as well as the same pro-highway bureaucrats we dealt with under the former Liberal Government.

As a consequence, the deletion of the Fremantle 'bypass' has still not occurred despite constant assurances from Minister MacTiernan that it would be deleted by now.

When the Government finally overcame bureaucratic delaying tactics and released the Metropolitan Region Scheme (MRS) report for the 'bypass' in 2002, some Liberal Party members of Parliament complained that the MRS submission period fell over Christmas so it should be extended. The Minister agreed to this. When in Government the Liberal Party failed to accept similar calls for extensions.

Responding to a call from pro-highway advocates, the WA Planning Commission funded a report into the deletion of the Fremantle 'bypass'. One of the consultants was ERM. Under the former Liberal Government, ERM worked to 'sell' the 'bypass' to the community. Despite this, the report, The Fremantle Eastern Bypass and Preferred Alternative, was an embarrassment to the pro-highway campaign as it showed the alternative options to the Fremantle 'bypass' had significantly less impacts. (see over).

They (Melville SoS, Melville and Canning Councils) had expected glowing support for the 'bypass' from the study.

The tabling of the WAPC report was used as a reason for a further extension of the MRS submission period, even though it was clear the highway lobby had nothing constructive to say on the issue.

The Melville Council used the extension to throw even more money into their misinformation campaign. Part of this campaign has been to scare people into submitting MRS forms to the WAPC in an attempt to delay the deletion of the 'bypass'.

To date, Melville/Canning Councils have spent around $90 000 on printing and distributing misleading information. In addition, over 80 000 of their pro-forma MRS forms were distributed in the metropolitan region. Their tactics and misinformation has reached the stage where individuals from the pro-highway campaign have been reported to the Electoral Commissioner, a Parliamentary Committee and the Minister for Local Government.

The pro-highway campaign is boasting that a majority of submissions oppose deletion of the Fremantle Highway, even though this information is confidential and we are uncertain how it is privy to it. After $90 000 worth of propaganda and 80 000 plus MRS forms distributed, its campaign represents a poor result and has mostly resulted in community divisiveness. It represents a new low in community debate. However, what is clear is that the vast majority of residents in the south-metro area have rejected the misinformation distributed by the pro-highway coalition.

The wretched result follows a poorly attended pro-highway rally in February. Late last year the Melville Council organised and funded a pro-bypass newspaper petition and fear campaign. Less that 5% of the population in the Melville LGA responded.

Whilst the highway advocates have plenty of money to spread their fear and fabrications, they lack strong public support. It appears the highway lobby has underestimated public understanding of the issues, the social, health and environmental impacts of continued highway construction in the established urban area and the number of local roads that will become feeder-distribution routes for their proposed highways.