Berkeley residents opposed to the removal of the suburb's big prawn say they will hold public protests to save the sculpture if needed.

Wollongong City Council has announced it will remove the art work because it is a public safety hazard and can no longer be repaired. It plans to replace the prawn, which is at the entrance to Parkway Avenue near Berkeley shopping centre, with three boat sculptures that can be used as seating.

Berkeley resident Roy Gersbach said the council planned to remove the prawn before June 15 and he is lobbying ward councillors Vicki Curran, Ann Martin, Chris Connor and Bede Crasnich to prevent that happening.

Artist Judy Bourke, one of six artists who made the prawn in 1992 with the help of local schoolchildren, has sent the council a letter from her lawyer saying her moral rights as an artist must be considered. Bourke said she had helped fix the prawn twice and the council had failed to consult her about removing it.

Mr Gersbach said there were people, including himself, who would hold public demonstrations to save the prawn if the council "didn't see reason".

He went to the neighbourhood centre to see the designs for the new boat seating and spoke to the artists involved.

"Having viewed the plans and designs of the replacement seats for Parkway Avenue, Berkeley, I find they are being constructed of the same materials, that is concrete and mosaic, as our iconic prawn," Mr Gersbach wrote in a letter to the ward councillors.

"I see no reasoning at all in removing one ceramic structure to be replaced by three structures of identical materials, which council claims is high maintenance and dangerous.

"If Mr [Armando] Reviglio [counci's cultural and community development manager] is so keen to remove the prawn after 23 years, one would wonder about the use-by date of the proposed boat seats."

He said the seats should be placed near the community centre or next to the prawn.

Cr Martin said she had looked at the prawn and told council staff it could be repaired.

"There are broken tiles, and it's not rocket science to repair those broken tiles," she said.