Update on repair and clean up of city

Image: Work completed by Council’s Dune Crew to reopen Whartons Creek along Bulli Beach to allow water to wash out to sea and the beach reform naturally.

Roads’ evaluation and prioritisation of repairs, assessment of areas for potential landslips and identifying damage to other critical infrastructure, are all current priorities for Wollongong City Council following the recent natural disaster in our city.

While crews continue to be on the ground carrying out clean up works on our beaches and at culverts and creeks, our focus has also widened this week to include the next phase of recovery works as well as planning for repairs to damaged infrastructure like the entranceway into Helensburgh Train Station.

Wollongong City Lord Mayor Councillor Gordon Bradbery AM said following the heavy rain and flooding on it was necessary to phase the city’s recovery. While energy was initially dedicated to addressing areas of safety and getting the city operational, it’s now time to move into addressing more longer-term challenges that result from a natural disaster.

“Council is closely assessing and identifying priorities for action across local infrastructure, beaches, buildings, footpaths and waterways,” Cr Bradbery said.

“In Helensburgh, for example, we’ve seen extensive damage to sections of roads near the Helensburgh Train Station carpark. We’ve investigated the extent of the damage and installed temporary traffic arrangements while we get started planning how we will go about the repair work.

“In Windang, we recently removed a playground near the foreshore for community safety. While erosion is an underlying issue at this site, significant and rapid increase in erosion after the natural disaster saw more than 1m of shoreline wash away.

“Both these impacted sites are complex and cannot be tackled alone by Council and we’ve already had some constructive conversations from other key agencies as well as the NSW and Federal Government. We look forward to continuing this collaborative approach moving forward.’’

Council also continues to work closely with the NSW Reconstruction Authority as they support Wollongong as a natural disaster recovery area.

Video Caption: Council staff continue to assess the damage to Council's critical infrastructure including local roads and Council-managed buildings.

Cleaning up our beaches

As the initial clean up works are wrapping up, Council is working on is the cleanup of our beaches, pools, and rock pools, as well as making sure our public spaces that host Anzac Day events and ceremonies are in good shape.

Wollongong City Council Director Infrastructure and Works Jo Page said that Council is aware that some of the day-to-day maintenance and repair work of their local roads and public areas is taking a little longer than usual.

“Our workload has increased drastically as we respond to the weather impacts of the Saturday 6 April floods. With our priority originally on supporting flood impacted residents get rid of their waste, we estimate we’re about 25 per cent of the way through cleanup of Council owned land and assets – that’s our pools, beaches, parks, local roads, drains and footpaths,” Ms Page said.

“Our Dune Crews, for example, have been up and down the coast cleaning up beaches that have been scarped by storms and tides and remove debris. At Bulli Beach, the beach access path was one of the casualties from the recent weather event as a deluge of stormwater ripped up the planks and carved away the sand dunes.

“Our crews have since laid down more sand and repaired the Bulli Beach walkway so that people can safely access the beach. The crews have also reopened the Whartons Creek opening to the beach which will help the beach recover naturally over time.”

For updates on major infrastructure recovery, keep an eye on Council’s website and on the City of Wollongong Facebook page.