Camp Gully in Helensburgh from Whitty Street. The gully requires significant repair work after being hammered by natural disasters since 2021. Photo: Google Maps.
Repairs to the headwall at Camp Gully in Helensburgh will cost almost half a million dollars.
The headwall suffered significant damage from a series of natural disasters dating back to 2021.
Headwalls, part of the region’s stormwater infrastructure, prevent erosion and structural damage by stabilising the embankment around the outlet of a drain or culvert.
Heavy rainfall and flood events have exposed and moved large boulders, and undermined the road surface at the adjacent Whitty Road and the handrail at the Camp Gully headwall.
Wollongong City Council accepted a tender for repairs of the headwall and culvert embankments from RIX Group for $436,661.50, including GST.
The gross replacement cost for the council’s stormwater and floodplain infrastructure is about $1.8bn.
The project will be funded through the council’s capital budget and grants, to the chagrin of Councillor Dan Hayes.
Cr Hayes argued the work should be funded through the council’s stormwater levy; however, staff said the stormwater budget was reserved for new services and infrastructure, not the repair of existing infrastructure.
“To not be able to use stormwater funds for stormwater infrastructure is very odd,” Cr Hayes said.
“I think we should reinterpret our evaluation of that policy.
“I would prefer to use that so we’re not using money that could be spent on footpaths or something else.”
Lord Mayor Tania Brown said she didn’t think the budget used for the work was as important as getting the job done.
“I think Helensburgh would like us to get on with it and repair the damage from the disaster,” she said.
The gully has been plagued with issues over the past several years.
In 2022, the NSW Environment Protection Authority ordered Peabody Energy to clean up polluted water flowing from its Metropolitan coal mine at Helensburgh into Camp Gully Creek.
The creek flows into the Hacking River, one of the main waterways of the NSW Royal National Park.
After the flood disaster in April 2024, sections of Whitty Road were down to single-lane traffic following damage to the road and adjacent embankments.
The council had to adjust its plans for improvements to the headwall.
It took until June to complete repairs to the road to allow for the resumption of two-lane traffic.
Now that the tender for the headwall repairs has been approved, it is hoped the gully will prove more resilient in future disasters.
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