Kiama Councillor Mike Cains wants to transform Kiama Harbour from tired to terrific while retaining the unique charm of a special part of the town.

Cr Cains and Kiama Mayor Cameron McDonald will be Council’s representatives on a working group alongside three community members that will aim to revitalise the harbour after years of few improvements apart from the seawall upgrade.

The motion to form a Kiama Harbour Revitalisation Working Group was passed by Council last week.

“We want people to come to Kiama as a destination. We want them to enjoy the harbour. We want them to be blown away,” said Cr Cains, speaking as a Councillor, not on behalf of Council.

“We all know what it's like to be on point on a sparkling summer's day or this time of the year when you can watch whales breach right outside, almost in spitting distance.

“We live in the most amazing part of the world, yet our prime real estate, our jewel in the crown, sits there looking tired and old, unused and underutilised.

“It's a legacy project. We have to get out the jumper leads and kick-start this thing. We have to apply the defibrillator to it. It has to get going again.

“But more importantly, we need a community group that is able to help shape exactly how that harbour is revitalised, rejuvenated and how it serves the community into the future.

“So a situation where we just say let's not do anything, let's not try and engage with the stakeholders. Let's just see what gets foisted upon us is something that's unacceptable in my mind.

“And that's why I push for it very hard. It's a vital project for us and we're well within our rights to assert some advocacy around it.”

Transport for NSW developed a plan for the harbour precinct four years ago but there has been minimal progress since then.

“No one's saying the plan is perfect - there was a lot of consternation at the time but we have a plan, it's there and it's just been gathering dust for the last four years,” Cr Cains said.

“When people go down there, they can see just how tired and industrial and moribund the place is.

“It just doesn't take too much imagination to think what it could be with an upgraded marina, a restaurant, some accommodation where those cabins are that don't really bring Council much money, to be honest, but they occupy the most prime real estate heading up to Blowhole Point there.

“You've got the SES and the Boy Scouts shed. We know how tired the building that occupies Cargo Fish and Chips is. And we know that School Flat can be utilised much more effectively.

“It is complex - you do need Crown Lands, Maritime, Transport for NSW and Kiama Council on the same page to make sure that it is all that it can be. And that work starts now.”

The Working Group will soon be calling for expressions of interest from the community as part of the process of selecting three more members. And it needs to have funds allocated to setting it up by Council.

“We're going to be tasked with actions. We're going to be analysing, planning and executing,” Cr Cains added.

“There might be other people who might cynically say we're gonna turn this into the Gold Coast.

“And I would say to people that is precisely why we've created the Working Group, to make sure we don't get stuff that's inappropriate, that is at odds with what our community needs.

“The whole purpose of the Working Group is to make sure that we strike that right balance.”