Kiama Mayor Cameron McDonald has used his casting vote to cancel the New Year's Eve fireworks after a late bid to revive the iconic event fell just short.

There was a late bid 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 was 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.

The proposal was hotly debated at Tuesday's Council meeting with the basis for the motion being shot down due to the current financial predicament of Council, which does not warrant the sale of assets.

The final vote was split 4-4 with Cr McDonald using his casting vote to defeat the motion.

Councillors Mike Cains and Stuart Larkins also supported the motion while McDonald, along with Deputy Mayor Melissa Matters, Erica Warren and Melinda Lawton voted against staging the fireworks due to the financial impact.

A report from Director of Strategies and Communities Ed Paterson had recommended the fireworks should be cancelled.

"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," he wrote.

He 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.

The combined tally from local businesses and KBN was approximately $35,500, so the shortfall of around $55,000 means that Council is unable to go ahead with the event, particularly due to the fact it is operating under a NSW Government-imposed Performance Improvement Order to get its finances in order.

According to Spendmapp data, $1.76 million was spent in the Kiama LGA on 31 December last year.

Scaling down the event to a smaller fireworks display was ruled out because “while entertainment programming could be reduced, it plays a significant part in crowd management and community safety by staggering arrival and departure times so that 15,000–20,000 people don’t all arrive or leave at once”.

Of the cost to hold the show (not taking into account staff costs), only $35,000 is associated with the actual fireworks and associated entertainment.

More to come