The reconstruction of the Warilla seawall to protect beachfront homes in the future is one step closer.
Parliamentary Secretary for the Illawarra Gareth Ward MP announced on Wednesday that the state government would grant Shellharbour City Council $60,000 to investigate the feasibility of reconstructing the seawall at Warilla Beach.
The funding will be used to assess the structure and determine the best way to reconstruct the wall.
"The seawall between Barrack Point in the south and Lake Illawarra to the north has been identified during several studies as in need of reconstruction," he said.
“While it provides protection to residential properties, infrastructure and public amenities in its current condition, there is no assurance about the level of future protection and this study will help to identify the best option for the future.
"Shellharbour City Council has completed engineering and preliminary options assessments for the seawall and will use the grant to complete a cost-benefit and distributional analysis before proceeding to the planning and consultation process and feasibility of management options."
Shellharbour councillor Kellie Marsh said the reconstruction of the seawall would not be possible for the council without grant assistance from the state government.
"In 2016 storm there were king tides that desecrated the foreshore," she said.
"There are beautiful homes along the foreshore and the ground in front of them is slowly being lost.
"To construct a new seawall or fix the one there now would be a huge cost to council.
"If the council didn't get financial assistance from the government then the money would have to come out of the roads or playgrounds budget for example because we can't keep hitting ratepayers in the hip pocket."
She thanked Mr Ward for helping to secure the funding from the Coastal and Estuary Grants program.
