AN official committee to nurse Lake Illawarra to a healthy future is going ahead despite Wollongong City Council’s push for more government funding.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Last year the NSW government axed the Lake Illawarra Authority (LIA) and its annual funding of more than $1 million and handed the responsibility over to Wollongong and Shellharbour City Councils, who were to set up a joint estuary management committee.
Shellharbour Council agreed to the restructure, however the formation of a committee was delayed when Wollongong Council rejected the proposal unless all land was included and more than $22 million in funding was guaranteed.
The loud rejection from Wollongong fell on deaf ears as the state government gave no indictation it planned to fund the new committee. That left the two councils little choice but to absorb the costs.
Last Monday night Wollongong Council resolved to enter into a memorandum of understanding with Shellharbour Council in support of the establishment of a management committee.
All but one Wollongong councillor agreed to continue pushing the government for a $22 million commitment.
Shellharbour Mayor Marianne Saliba said Wollongong council would not get the money because the restructure was a direction from state government.
“We still have to form a committee or it will be detrimental to the health of the Lake in the long term,” she said.
“I don’t want the lake to go back to how it was 20 years ago. We are doing everything we can from our perspective.”
Cr Saliba said the estuary committee would apply for government grants to cover the extra costs associated with managing the lake and money would also come from council budget.
The Wollongong Council report indicated at least $250,000 would be needed to set up the committee which would comprise of two representatives from each council, two independent scientific advisors and relevant stakeholders who would work with crown land division and office of environment and heritage.
Member for Shellharbour Anna Watson said the two councils should “stand firm” against the government’s proposal and continue to demand more funding.
“At the moment neither council has any commitment of guaranteed funding from the state government and there is confusion about which agency and bureaucracy will be responsible for which part of the lake,” Ms Watson said.
“Wollongong Council will regret the day it started dancing to the tune of the state government on the future of Lake Illawarra and following the Lord Mayor’s (Gordon Bradbery) weak leadership.”
Wollongong Councillor Vicki Curran warned the new plan would fail and the lake would deteriorate without state funding with the development of Tallawarra, West Dapto, Albion Park and Windang land erosion.
