Kiama Mayor Cameron McDonald has explained why he used his casting vote to cancel the New Year's Eve fireworks after a late bid to revive the iconic event fell just short at Tuesday night’s Council meeting.

There was a late attempt to keep the popular event alive with Councillor Matt Brown proposing to the Council that $99,000 from the sale of land be put aside to fund the fireworks and the motion was seconded by Yasmin Tatrai.

Council last week had the covenant lifted by the NSW Government on Glenbrook Drive, clearing the way for five lots to be sold.

Speaking to The Bugle, Cr McDonald explained why the tough decision needed to be made to not allocate funds from Council’s potential Glenbrook Drive land sales to save the popular event.

“Council needs to demonstrate good financial management. Financial responsibility is not selling Council assets to fund operational expenses like the fireworks, because that’s a short-lived goal. It’s robbing Peter to pay Paul.”

Director of strategies and communities, Ed Paterson, said Council had a Restricted Funds Policy which meant the money from asset sales such as the Glenbrook Road properties go into a property development reserve to be used for specific purposes.

“When we realise gains from the sale of assets, it should go back into developing other assets and other communities, facilities, and funding developments that generate ongoing income,” Paterson said.

"The varied Performance Improvement Order makes it clear that Council are not to rely on asset divestment as a means of funding operations,” said Mr Paterson.

The proposal was hotly debated at Tuesday night’s Council meeting with the current financial predicament of Council contributing to it being rejected.

The vote to use the Glenbrook funds for the fireworks for 2025 was split 4-4 and Cr McDonald, after using his casting vote to against the motion, thanked the efforts of the Kiama Business Network and Destination Kiama in trying to keep the event afloat.

"It’s upsetting that we can't afford the fireworks this year through means that would be more appropriate then selling assets," Cr McDonald said at the meeting.

"I would like to apologise to the community … that we haven’t been able to provide [the event] this year.”

However, Cr McDonald stressed that pausing the fireworks for one year was the fiscally responsible thing to do.

"There will be some reputational damage, which Cr Brown has forecast, but I am confident that Kiama can bounce back and have a sustainable model implemented for the fireworks to return next year in 2026."

Councillors Mike Cains and Stuart Larkins also supported the fireworks going ahead with funding from the Glenbrook Drive sales, while Cr McDonald, along with Deputy Mayor Melissa Matters, Erica Warren and Melinda Lawton voted against funding the fireworks from this source.

Once this motion was lost, all Councillors except Cr Larkins voted in favour of the original recommendation to not stage the fireworks in 2025 due to the financial impact.

Cr Brown, who is also the chair of Destination Kiama, was unhappy with the outcome.

"It's incredibly disappointing," he told The Bugle on Wednesday.

"Council's budget is $80 million so surely we can find $90,000 for fireworks."

The Council report, which was tabled at the meeting, and recommended the fireworks should be cancelled for 2025 said: "Council will need to divert funds from the adopted budget, at the expense of other approved projects, or adopt to increase the operational deficit which is not in accord with the Performance Improvement Order.".

The report noted that the cancellation of the 2025 NYE Sky Show is "only for one year and can be run again as Council finances improve".

A call had been placed last month for external sponsors to come forward, Kiama Business Network (KBN) offered to donate $10,000 to the cause to match contributions from local businesses and Council also conducted a survey to see if NYE revellers would be prepared to pay if it became a ticketed event or chip in with a gold coin donation.

Several KBN members pledged to provide between $3500 and $7000 in total funds towards the event.