Council fireworks have traditionally been at Cronulla, but now other parts of the Shire are being given the experience. Picture by John Veage

Sutherland Shire Council will stage New Year's Eve fireworks at another location at a cost of $50,000, which troubles some councillors as youth homelessness in the region surges.

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The council decided at its meeting on Monday June 22 to hold the event at the Sylvania Waters sporting complex following the success of fireworks last New Year's Eve at Illawong.

The 2026-27 operational budget had to be adjusted to include the $50,000 allocation, "to be funded from general revenue and, where possible, sponsorship funding."

Cr Carmelo Pesce moved the motion, which was carried unanimously.

Despite voting "yes", several councillors were concerned by the outlay for a 15-minute display, and suggested, for the future, thought be given to making it a night-long attraction and inviting donations to help vulnerable people in the community.

Cr Kal Glanznig said, "I will play devil's advocate and say $50,000 for 15 minutes of fireworks is a lot of money, and we should actually think about the goal of what we are trying to achieve with an annual calendar of community events to cater for diverse audiences."

Community fireworks event.

"I think for future events we should be thinking how we do really activate all the people in our community, not just have these individual moments," he said.

"We could pay for 500 hours of busking at $100 an hour to play great music at every town centre all through the year."

Cr Glanznig said the "more vulnerable members of our community" should be considered.

He referred to a Leader report on Project Youth's annual community breakfast, where it was revealed there had been a 50 per cent increase in a year in referrals for homelessness support in St George and Sutherland Shire, with 70 per cent having to be turned away due to lack of resources.

"Moving forward, $50,000 for 15 minutes doesn't pass the pub test where we have these other challenges and when we can be activating our town centres in different ways and really creating that sense of community."

Cr Jen Armstrong, who attended the Project Youth breakfast, said, "It is horrific that we have to say 'no' to teenagers sleeping under a roof each night."

"I want this event to be long-term like the Jannali Moonlight Festival, so it's not just 15 minutes of fireworks.

"It's about the build-up, the community gathering, it's about how do we make this event where it is a gold coin donation, $5 for a family or whatever, which we donate to a local charity, and how do we make this an event where our local buskers can come and play?

"How do we activate it and make it a whole evening?"

Cr Armstrong said, "If we work hard we can make this an event which builds memories, builds community and builds opportunity for other people who are less vulnerable, and also forms partnerships with business."

Cr Haris Strangas said he liked the location, but questioned whether pre-planning had been done on traffic management and parking, given inadequate public transport access.

A council director said those issues had been considered, and a traffic management plan would be prepared, but "we are fairly limited in where we can run fireworks safely".