Unruly weeds are blocking lifeguards' sight lines on Illawarra beaches, making it increasingly harder for rescuers to spot swimmers in distress.
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Surf Life Saving Illawarra president Val Zanotto said lifesavers were struggling to see the beach, due to overgrown vegetation obscuring their view.
"It's the No 1 issue facing our lifesavers; they can't see swimmers because of this vegetation and it's a major problem, particularly when the beach is busy around Christmas time," he said.
"At the end of the day, it's about the price you put on saving lives. It's not worth it if lifesavers can't see to clear the beach in an emergency; we don't want to see that situation occurring."
Mr Zanotto said the rampant overgrowth was worst along Wollongong's City Beach but was also serious at Woonona, Towradgi and Bulli beaches.
Lifesavers also had to battle against scarping, which had created steep sand cliffs along the shoreline.
Mr Zanotto said the erosion had made it impossible for lifesavers to drag equipment to the beach and had closed critical access walkways.
"At many beaches, there's this big drop where the sand just falls away so [the council] has had to close the walkways because people just can't get down there without clambering down," he said.
"It also makes it impossible to bring equipment down; you can't drag an IRB boat down to the beach."
A Wollongong City Council spokesman said the extent and severity of scarping could be reduced with management but not completely avoided.
"The interim approach is to inspect the beach access ways after scarping [and] take remedial action, if possible, or close off unsafe access ways until the beach profile builds up again," he said.
The council is trying to find ways to manage the coastal issues via its draft dune management strategy, which went on display this week. The council spokesman said the strategy, examining 17 of the region's beaches, was developed to take into account community concern over several issues including sight lines, beach access and scarping.
Options like building new observation towers, raising the observation level of surf clubs and relocating existing towers had been mooted to solve the issues but they came with a hefty price tag.
Mr Zanotto believed the council's suggestion to reprofile vegetation around the surf clubs, trading towering weeds for low-lying grass, was the most cost-effective move.
"Building more towers doesn't help anyone. There is 17 beaches and we only have a few towers now; it's a lot of money. Where is that going to come from?
"The biggest problem is the vegetation. We'd like to see the surf clubs working in conjunction with the council to manage the dunes on either sides of the club houses and fix the vegetation so it's at an appropriate level."
The council was set to discuss a dune-care program with the surf clubs, the spokesman said, but any dune reprofiling would only be undertaken after detailed investigation.
The draft strategy will be on display until July 14.
All community members are asked to view the strategy and make submissions.
