03 April 2024

Wollongong City Council is set to receive more than $3.9 million in funding under the NSW Government’s 2023-24 Coastal and Estuary Grants Management Program, to complete construction of the North Wollongong Beach Seawall.

Member for Wollongong, Paul Scully, said that the North Wollongong Beach Seawall project is among 34 coastal management projects funded with a total of $11.3 million, and one of five projects in the Wollongong area.

 

This funding boost will help to complete the North Wollongong Beach Seawall, a piece of priority coastal protection infrastructure identified in the Wollongong Coastal Zone Management Plan.

 

Other local projects to be funded by the implementation stream of the 2023-24 Coastal and Estuary Grants Management Program include:

 

  • $151,771 for water quality and ecological health monitoring of Lake Illawarra and its catchment;
  • $90,000 for the stabilisation of Port and Puckeys Dune Systems;
  • $330,000 for the enhancement of Lake Illawarra’s Banks and Habitat; and
  • $100,000 to integrate the outcomes of the Risk Based Framework Lake Illawarra Study into Wollongong and Shellharbour City Council's Planning Frameworks.

 

The NSW Government works in partnership with councils by also providing technical support to local government under this grants program.

 

This latest grant from the NSW Government comes on the back of nearly $482,000 in funding to Wollongong City Council to help identify and develop long-term plans to manage hazards along the coastline including things like beach erosion, sand build-up and rock falls.

 

Quotes attributable to Paul Scully MP, Member for Wollongong:

 

“This funding is a significant investment towards the continued management of our local coastal environment.

 

“I’m so pleased to see that this funding will support the completion of the seawall at North Beach as well as the stabilisation of the dune systems at Port Kembla and Puckeys Reserve and planning frameworks that will help to guide development around Lake Illawarra into the future.”