Civil Constructions’ Chris Judges, NSW Public Works’ John Anderson, Minister Paul Scully, Cronan Electricals’ Daniel Cronan, NSW Public Works’ Jayden Ferguson and Civil Constructions’ Ryan Meads at Kully Bay in Warrawong. Photo: Keeli Dyson.
Work on a new seawall on the foreshore of the Warrawong Parklands site will soon be underway, with the construction on the replacement starting almost a year after the area was barricaded off due to being unsafe.
The first step in revitalising the 32 hectares of parkland on the shore of Lake Illawarra is in motion, with the reconstruction of Kully Bay’s picturesque promenade, which has been made inaccessible to the community, about to begin.
“Unfortunately it’s been closed off to the public for far too long but has been closed off to the public for very good reason,” Planning Minister Paul Scully said.
“There’s a lot of damage that has happened under the surface there for many, many years and now it’s time to restore that to build the new seawall.”
The damaged structure and steep drop will be replaced by a seawall designed to better handle the conditions by the lake and improve access for the community.
“We’ll be not only replacing the seawall but doing it in a more environmentally sensitive way with elements of it that will assist with supporting the marine environment and supporting ecological outcomes,” Minister Scully said.
“It will also start to do the work of getting some more interaction between the land and the lake here at Warrawong.
“For too long it’s been quite a big drop off the edge of here and that hasn’t enabled the interaction that we want to see through time.”
The first step in the revitalisation of Warrawong Parklands will soon be underway, but there are still barriers to overcome. Photo: Artist’s render, NSW Government.
Work is expected to be completed by the end of 2026, but the site has already been fenced off for almost 12 months due to safety concerns.
Alongside expected reviews and logistics, finalisation of the broader, long-term vision for the Warrawong Parklands site were required before construction could begin.
Despite the frustration of the foreshore closure, Minister Scully hoped the $5 million investment and start of works showed the Warrawong community the revitalisation was getting closer.
“We had to do quite a bit of planning and design work and because we wanted to work it in with the final option on the master plan so it wasn’t this stark replacement of exactly the same, we wanted to make sure it was sympathetic with what we were trying to achieve with the master plan,” Minister Scully said.
“We find a lot of people use the parking area nearby, come down here, take a walk along the foreshore, use the jetties to go out and have a fish or just go out in the water, so it’s an important signal to everyone that the government is very, very serious and I’m very, very serious about making sure that we’re delivering on that really exciting master plan.”
But before the master plan – released in March – can fully become a reality, legislation to protect the future of the site still needs to make it through parliament.
“We’ve got a couple more speakers and some amendments to deal with in the Lower House and then we join the queue in the Upper House,” Mr Scully said.
“Given there is widespread support in the Lower House for the legislative changes that would allow Warrawong Parklands to be brought into the management of the great parklands of New South Wales to protect it from any future sale without any legislative change, my appeal to the Upper House is once we deal with that bill in the next period that we’re back, that you get in, deal with it quickly so we can get on with the task of delivering a great parklands for the people of the southern suburbs of the Illawarra.”
For more information on Warrawong Parklands visit the NSW Planning website.
