Wollongong and Shellharbour going into lockdown at the start of the NSW school holidays has families in both cities changing plans for the next fortnight and parents wondering how they are going to keep their children occupied.
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With the NSW Health public health order stating residents in affected areas can only leave home for essential reasons from 6pm Saturday, exercising outdoors in groups of up to 10 people and shopping for food or other essential goods and services with a face mask are the only two options families can consider.
NSW recorded 30 new locally acquired cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours to 8pm on Saturday, taking the total number in the outbreak to 110 cases.
There remains five active COVID-19 cases in the Wollongong local government area; all of these have been in isolation as they were close contacts of previously announced cases linked to the Bondi cluster.
Wollongong Council:
Wollongong City Council announced on Sunday morning that playgrounds, outdoor fitness, rock pools and skate parks are still open but residents in the local government area must still follow NSW Health social distancing advice.
The council has made changes to the delivery of a number of its services to support the NSW Government's updated COVID-19 Public Health Order. It is applying a community-oriented, risk-based approach to the delivery of services during the lockdown to support the health, safety and wellbeing of everyone in the Wollongong community.
From Monday services closed to the public are:
- Wollongong City Council's Administration Building.
- Council's Customer Service Centre. The team will be available online and over the phone only.
- Our libraries - including the home library service. Our online services will continue to be available through the Library's website.
- Wollongong Art Gallery.
- Wollongong Youth Centre. Council's Youth Services are available online or via phone for support and information.
- Beaton Park and Lakeside Leisure Centres.
- Council-managed community facility buildings.
- Supervised swimming pools, Dapto Pool and the Continental Pool. Berkeley, Helensburgh, Western Suburbs, Port Kembla and Thirroul pools are closed for winter and Corrimal is currently closed for repairs.
- Wollongong Council's Men's Shed.
- Volunteering Illawarra.
- Social Support.
- Russell Vale Golf Course. Please contact the Pro-Shop regarding the rescheduling of any bookings.
- Communal BBQ facilities in Council's open spaces.
Services still open to the public are:
- Lifeguard services at North Wollongong beach. North Wollongong beach is patrolled year-round. All other beaches are unpatrolled until 18 September 2021.
- Wollongong Botanic Garden remains open. However, the Friends of the Botanic Garden program, and all public programs, are suspended until further notice.
- Wollongong Memorial Gardens.
- Wollongong Tourist Parks. The Parks will not be taking new visitor bookings. Existing guests at the park, and those with no fixed address are currently permitted to stay, providing guests comply with NSW Health's public health order.
- The rock pools are considered unsupervised and will continue to be maintained. While they are not affected by the restrictions, people are asked to follow the NSW Health's social distancing advice before considering a swim.
- Playgrounds, outdoor fitness and skate parks - please follow NSW Health social distancing advice.
- Council's Community Transport services will continue to support essential services, such as trips to attend medical or health appointments or for necessities such as food. Advice will be provided directly to our customers and volunteers, but customers can also contact our Community Transport team to confirm service arrangements.
- There will be no changes to household waste collections and Wollongong Waste and Resource Recovery Park (Whyte's Gully) will remain open. Payment continues to be by card only.
- The Council Meeting on Monday 28 June will be webcast live from 6pm.
Shellharbour Council:
Shellharbour City Council also announced a raft of changes to its services in line with the new restrictions, effective from Sunday.
"We anticipate there will be further announcements across the coming days," a spokeswoman said.
"We understand this is a challenging time for many in our community. Please continue to support each other, take care and reach out for support if you need it. We are all in this together."
Services closed to the public are:
- The Shellharbour Civic Centre will be closed to the public. Its customer service centre will remain open for online and phone enquires only. The Civic Centre Café will remain open for takeaway service only.
- Shellharbour City Libraries are closed. Return chutes will be open and online library services will remain operational. Please visit the Shellharbour Libraries page for further information.
- Council's pools will be closed, however the Beverley Whitefield pool will remain operational. People must follow all COVID safe rules when using this facility.
- Council managed community centres and halls will be closed.
- Council's visitor information centre will be closed.
- Shellharbour City Stadium is closed.
- The Blackbutt Youth Centre will be closed.
- The Shellharbour Holiday Park will remain open for existing guests, but no new visitor bookings will be taken (restrictions and regulations apply) please visit the park website for further information.
Services still open to the public are:
- Playgrounds and outdoor exercise equipment will remain open. Please observe social distancing and other COVID safe regulations.
- The Links will be open for Golf for groups with a maximum of 10 people who follow social distance guidelines and other directions from the golf course staff. The driving range and practice greens will also remain open.
- Shanx mini golf will be open with social distancing regulations in place.
- Shell Cove Tavern will be open for takeaway food service only. Please visit the Tavern website for further information.
- The Shell Cove Tavern bottle shop will remain open for business.
- Dunmore waste depot and services will remain open.
- Council's cleaning services for public amenities will continue to be operational.
- Shellharbour Airport remains operational.
- The Council meeting on Tuesday 29 June will be webcast live from 6:30pm.
- Council's cemeteries will be open, but numbers are restricted to 100 for funerals.
- Council's Nursery will be open.
Read more:
- What does the COVID-10 public health order mean you can and can't do
- No visitors allowed at Wollongong, Shellharbour hospitals unless in exceptional circumstances
- UOW changes campus operations for students and staff following new COVID-19 health orders
- Panic buyers hit Wollongong shops ahead of 14-day lockdown
- Two week lockdown for Sydney, Wollongong and now Shellharbour
- Premier orders two week lockdown, new regional restrictions: Here's what you need to know
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Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
