news, latest-news,

A summer beach club in the city is one step closer after Wollongong City Council last night backed a motion by Councillor Cameron Walters. Council will now provide a report looking at the possibility of running a pop-up beach club trial at one of the city's 17 patrolled beaches. But council staff now have until the end of April 2020 to complete the report. Cr Walters initially wanted the trial to be held at North Wollongong beach in the 2019/20 summer season but agreed to move the date to 2020/21. The Ward 3 councillor was also open to the pop-up beach club one-off trial being held at any suitable beach location in the Wollongong LGA. "I'd like to see it happen as soon as possible but if that means I have to wait one summer, I can live with that, but I can't live with waiting 10 summers and nothing has happened," Cr Walters said at Monday night's council meeting. He told his fellow councillors to be "brave' and try something different. "I really want to see this proposal adopted," Cr Walters said. "I don't want to see it end up on the Mercury as a great idea but never goes anywhere, never really gets there. Read more: Summer beach club planned for North Wollongong "I'm simply calling for an investigation to see if after consultation with stakeholders we can't find somebody to run the beach club trial." His dream is to set up a summer beach club on the sand at North Wollongong with cocktails, live music and good times. But Cr Walters is adamant it will be a relaxing environment, with only a small portion of the beach to be used. He wants to "activate" the popular North Beach in a similar fashion to South Australia's Moseley Beach Club which was trialed at Glenelg. The region's peak tourism body Destination Wollongong has publicly supported Cr Walters motion. Read more: Why residents 'shouldn't fear' a club on the sands of North Beach But while the motion was passed, three councillors voted against it, including Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery and his deputy David Brown. Cr Janice Kershaw also voted no. "How can we have a trial if we don't have a proponent?" Cr Kershaw asked. Cr Bradbery also questioned the validity of council staff having to spend so much time investigating an "unsolicited proposal". "There are so many difficulties with the planning and DA's and we still have to work with the gaming industry," he said. "The complexities of this are immense. This has not been adequately thought out. It's a great idea but it's taking away from the usual business of council." Read more: Wollongong's future eco warriors rise up for environmental campaign Cr Brown also questioned whether the council should be involved at all in the process. "It is better to be a regulator than an operator," he said. Cr Brown also raised concerns about "over tourism" in North Wollongong should the trial go ahead. But Cr Walters urged his fellow councillors not to "fear simply investigating a good idea."

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/kZL4qV6yTxfrWZJxKQxjSN/b812c15b-7c16-4197-90b1-c41b7a8943cd.jpg/r4_108_2045_1261_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg