Wollongong City Council hopes this year’s Australia Day fireworks display will go more smoothly than NYE. Photo: Wollongong City Council.
Australia Day fireworks in Wollongong should go off with a bang – as long as the weather plays ball.
After New Year’s Eve fireworks were cancelled at the eleventh hour due to large swells, Wollongong City Council has established a backup launch location for Australia Day.
Wollongong Harbour’s southern breakwall remains the first choice for the firing zone, but Flagstaff Hill now has the necessary approvals to be used as an alternative location.
A Wollongong City Council spokesperson said they believed the New Year’s Eve cancellation was the result of unusual conditions.
“Wollongong Harbour’s southern breakwall offers a wide range of excellent viewing points and allows us to safely manage and implement road closures, exclusion zones, and crowd control measures with minimal disruption,” the spokesperson said.
“In more than 20 years of using the southern breakwall as a firing point, 31 December was the first time ocean swells have necessitated the cancellation of a planned fireworks display.
“Based on the long history of successful shows and the advantages it provides, the southern breakwall will remain the preferred location for the Australia Day fireworks this year.
“While it gives us an alternate location, it’s important to understand that Flagstaff Hill has its own site constraints and considerations, including the possibility of adverse weather conditions we’ll be monitoring closely.”
In the past 20 years the only other time the fireworks display has been cancelled was 2019, due to bushfires and a total fire ban.
The Australia Day display will still rely on stable weather conditions, however.
The Wollongong City Council spokesperson said moving large-scale fireworks displays required about 24 hours’ notice, leaving them vulnerable to last-minute changes in conditions.
“Moving fireworks displays of this scale is a complex process,” the spokesperson said.
“It requires considerable planning and implementation – including changes to rigging of fireworks, updates to risk assessments and licence approvals, establishment of new exclusion zones, revised road closures, and updated crowd management plans.
“Even with an alternate location in place, it is unlikely the New Year’s Eve fireworks would have proceeded given the conditions on the day and required approvals.”
The cancelled New Year’s Eve display left the council about $100,000 out of pocket.
It is understood Wollongong City Council hopes an insurance process may restore some of the funds, and in the meantime the Australia Day display will come with a bit of extra bang.
Some fireworks were able to be salvaged from the planned New Year’s Eve display and will be included as extras in the Australia Day display.
The spokesperson said council would continue reviewing alternate fireworks locations for future events.
“We are also seeking independent expert advice to support development of a more robust framework regarding weather and ocean swell forecasts to further strengthen our planning and decision-making,” they said.
The Australia Day fireworks display will be held at 9 pm on 26 January in Wollongong Harbour.
