Wollongong City Council is closely monitoring weather conditions ahead of the planned community celebration and fireworks display on New Year's Eve.
Wollongong City Acting Lord Mayor Councillor Tania Brown said "We recognise the fireworks are an important community event and we hope they can go ahead.
"However, it's possible they may be cancelled, depending on the fire-fighting effort and weather conditions."
The NSW Government declared a seven-day State of Emergency across NSW last Thursday and fires continue to burn across large areas of the state, including our neighbouring shires Shoalhaven and Wollondilly.
The fireworks operator has an exemption from NSW Fire and Rescue to run the fireworks at Belmore Basin as part of the 2019 Acorn Lawyers New Year's Eve Celebration, even if there is a Total Fire Ban in place.
There are a number of circumstances under which Council may consider cancelling the fireworks display:
- If there is adverse weather, for example a combination of strong winds and high temperatures
- If air quality is at hazardous levels
- If there is significant fire activity in the LGA or neighbouring LGAs
- If 31 December has a Catastrophic fire rating
- If there is a request from NSW Fire and Rescue, NSW Rural Fire Service or NSW Police
- And, if a state of emergency is declared – with or without catastrophic conditions
"We will continue to monitor conditions closely and liaise with fire authorities and the fireworks provider in the lead up to the New Year's Eve, to assess any risk to public safety and confirm if the fireworks display can go ahead," Ms Brown said.
"If the fireworks display is cancelled, we will notify the community via local media outlets, ABC Illawarra, the WCC Facebook page and the WCC website."
If the event goes ahead volunteers from local Rotary Clubs will be walking around to do a bucket collection for NSW RFS.
