Environmentalist Jill Walker has criticised renovations to Sandon Point's surf club, claiming the clubhouse should have been moved back from the water, in light of rising sea levels and scarping along the beach.
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Ms Walker, a Sandon Point resident, believes Wollongong City Council engineers should have moved the club further away from the beach to avoid the potentially devastating effects of beach erosion.
The club reopened in April after a $3.7 million refurbishment, including extensive work to improve storage areas, club activity rooms, as well as severely dilapidated amenities and unsafe balconies.
But Ms Walker believes engineers should have considered the club's environmental future, given erosion already evident along the beach.
Heavy rain and huge tides last month have already taken their toll on the popular swimming spot.
Scarping was spotted up to the surf club's foundations, leading long-time club member Ken Holloway to remark that its impact was "quite extraordinary".
"I haven't seen it like this in my 17 years at Sandon Point," he told the Mercury last month.
A picture of the scarping that concerns Ms Walker.Ms Walker agreed, noting the beach often took a beating in the wet weather, but it had never looked as bad.
"I don't think I've ever seen the scarping that high," she said.
"The surf club should have been moved back away from the sea; [people] are predicting sand on beaches might not be replenished for years; we don't know how high the tides are going to get and how bad the scarping will become."
Ms Walker believes the heavy beach erosion has already presented difficulties for lifeguards, forcing them to use trucks to take their boats onto the beach.
Sandon Point Surf Life Saving Club could not be reached for comment.
Ms Walker claims the council should have considered a more sustainable environmental solution, taking into account issues with vegetation and erosion at the beach.
"It's just another problem the council is going to have to repair," she said.
"They'll just have to throw more money at it, which doesn't really resolve anything.
"The tide is coming up all the time; it's definitely not going to get better."
Wollongong council is monitoring scarping along the beach.
The issue of beach erosion is being examined in the council's draft dune management strategy.
