Long-time Berkeley residents Vicky King and Roy Gersbach are furious that Wollongong City Council wants to remove the suburb's big prawn.

The decision to dismantle the much-loved Berkeley prawn provoked outrage among Berkeley residents - many of them have taken to social media to tell the council "don't come the raw prawn with me".

Despite an online Save Our Prawn campaign, which has attracted over 1000 members, the council says the public artwork near Berkeley shopping centre will be torn down and replaced next month because it's no longer safe.

The prawn was made of tiles designed by local children in 1992 and many residents are offended that the council wants to take a local icon away. They claim there has been little consultation.

Former Wollongong councillor Vicky King said she was "sick and tired of the council targeting areas where they think people can't stand up for themselves, where they are part of the lower socio-economic group".

"They think they can get away with anything in Berkeley," she said.

"If this [prawn] was in the northern area, they'd do something to fix it up."

Ms King claimed the council had only spoken to a few Berkeley residents about the prawn and that it was not a representative sample.

She said if the prawn was unsafe, it needed to be made better.

"If they really want to, they can encase it in a perspex-type box. It's part of the environment. It adds a bit of colour to the area.

"I think we deserve a better prawn and somehow it should be incorporated with what was done by the children. All around the garden beds are the kids' tiles that they handmade in the schools and that's also part of the prawn," Ms King said.

Roy Gersbach, a founding member of the Berkeley Residents Action Group formed to save the park at Winnima Way, said opinion on the street was "hands off our prawn".

He said council needed to provide evidence that the prawn was a risk to public health and safety.

"We will be calling for costing to be public in any remedial work versus removal and replacement and to assure ourselves everything has been done to attain the best result for the Berkeley community," he said.

Wollongong council's community and cultural development manager, Armando Reviglio said an assessment of the prawn was carried out last year.

"This assessment found that, due to the current risk and safety requirements of such a public art asset the sculpture should be removed," he said.

"This sculpture can no longer be repaired to the standard required by council for the safety of our community."

Mr Reviglio said council wanted the community to get involved in the prawn's replacement, new "boat seats" for Berkeley.

Residents can contribute designs on May 29 (from 10.30am-4pm) or May 30 (9.30am-2pm) at the neighbourhood centre.

He also said the council had consulted the community on the prawn's removal and the reasons, including visits to residents in Berkeley on April 8, 11, 15 and 21 at the skate park, neighbourhood and shopping centres.

Council staff held a "farewell to the prawn" barbecue at the sculpture on May 14.