Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward MP has today announced that Wollongong City Council has been granted $50,000 funding towards undertaking a cost benefit analysis of the proposed North Beach seawall.
Mr Ward said that this grant is from the NSW Government’s Coastal and Estuary Grants Program which provides technical and financial support to local government to help manage the coastal zone.
“The North Beach project is a priority option for investigation in the 'Wollongong Coastal Zone Management Plan’,” he said.
“Its aim is to confirm whether building a new seawall is the most cost-effective option for protecting coastal infrastructure, and natural assets at North Beach.
“The construction of the new seawall may be the best way to protect a number of high-profile Council-owned infrastructure assets, particularly the North Wollongong Surf Lifesaving Club, and also the Sydney Water sewage mains from future coastal erosion and coastal inundation,” Mr Ward said.
As part of the $83.6 million coastal reform package from 2016 - 2021, $9.5 million was made available for preparing technical studies and Coastal Management Programs.
The NSW Environment Minister Gabrielle Upton said the Coastal and Estuary Grants Program is funded under the NSW Government’s $83.6 million commitment towards improving management of the NSW coastline.
“The Program provides technical and financial support to local government to assist in managing the coastal zone and estuaries.
“The Program supports local councils to increase the resilience of coastal communities and allows for better planning in our coastal and estuarine environment.
“We are supporting local government manage the risks from coastal hazards, such as coastal erosion; restoring degraded coastal habitats; and improving the health of NSW estuaries, wetlands and littoral rainforests,” Ms Upton said.