The fact that the Illawarra has the cleanest beaches in NSW comes as no surprise to former Wagga Wagga resident Jennifer Willis.
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Ever since moving to Albion Park three years ago, Mrs Willis has visited the "pristine" Shellharbour Beach regularly.
"It is so beautiful and pristine. It is such a great, clean beach," she said on Friday.
Her views were backed up by the latest State of the Beaches 2019-20 report, which graded Shellharbour as very good.
The city's other beaches Warilla (very good) and Entrance Lagoon (good) also rated well.
All beaches in the neighbouring council areas of Wollongong and Kiama were also rated either very good or good, meaning the report rated 100 per cent of swimming sites in the Illawarra either very good or good.
The report compiled by the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, gave top marks to seven of Wollongong City's 13 beaches.
Stanwell Park, Coledale, Austinmer, Woonona, Wollongong City, Coniston and Fishermans Beach were all rated very good.
Four of Kiama's five swimming sites, Boyds/Jones, Bombo, Werri and Gerroa's Seven Mile Beach also scored top marks, with a very good rating.
The water quality of beaches and other swimming locations is monitored under the NSW government's Beachwatch programs. The grades are determined from the most recent 100 water quality results (two to four years' worth of data depending on the sampling frequency) and a risk assessment of potential pollution sources.
Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery welcomed the report findings, but joked making the city's beaches more attractive to visitors made things even more challenging for the council.
During last Monday's council meeting the issue of traffic congestion and parking around beaches was discussed.
One councillor said Wollongong's beaches should automatically be classed as "full" every Sunday.
Cr Bradbery said when news spread about how clean Wollongong's beaches were, it was sure to attract even more visitors to the city.
"The report makes our beaches more attractive," he said. "It also highlights that we are living in a wonderful part of the world and a lot of people want to come and share it with us."
Shellharbour Mayor Marianne Saliba praised council staff and the community for keeping the city's beaches clean.
"We certainly do our bit to keep it clean but the thing that really amazes me is the number of people that go walking every day and take a bag with them to collect rubbish," Cr Saliba said.
"As a region we are very proud of our beaches. We've got some beautiful places, the water's clean, the sand is lovely and white, and they are places that people want to visit, and we want to keep it that way.
"We are grateful to our communities that continue to keep our beaches clean and look after them. In that way many people get the benefits of them for many years to come."
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