A section of the sandstone wall on the northern side of the headland, built in the 1880s, was smashed to pieces during a king tide on the night of June 5, 2016.

The wall simply couldn’t withstand the wrath of that weather system – an east coast low – which drenched Wollongong with 329mm of rain in 72 hours and whipped up huge seas.

The Department of Industry (Lands and Forestry) is responsible for the sea wall repairs.

A spokeswoman for the department said last year’s June storm event caused “unprecedented damage” along the NSW coast and repairs to the Wollongong sea wall remained in the insurance claim process. 

“The Department of Industry – Lands and Forestry is continuing to work with its insurer to process claims for damaged Crown infrastructure and we’re hopeful the claim for the seawall in Wollongong will be finalised soon,” she said.

“Meanwhile, the department is preparing plans for a complete restoration of the 150-metre long wall, including repairs to the damaged sections.  

“Given the heritage significance of the wall the department will need to gain additional approvals for the restoration and repairs under the Heritage Act 1977.

“The department is hopeful it can begin work in 2017 with repair and restoration works being staged over the next two years.” 

Ironically, work to restore the ailing wall was being planned, but hadn’t begun, when the June 2016 east coast low hit.

A two-year timeframe for the restoration work was flagged at the time of the damage.

“Planning and preparation of design documentation had commenced to restore this seawall over the coming two years but had not commenced,” a department spokesman told the Mercury in June last year.