Today is September 28, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, communities throughout the Illawarra are being urged to be vigilant about locking their vehicles, so as to not tempt opportunistic thieves, and a community group has organised a series of free public information sessions to discuss the impacts the proposed development for the Thirroul Plaza will have on the community.

Today is September 25, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, a stretch of Picton Road that claimed the lives of two truck drivers in a fiery crash is getting some attention, and extra fencing will go up at the Sea Cliff Bridge to cut off access to selfie seekers.

Today is September 24, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, developers behind the bid to build Dapto's first high-rise apartment block will be sent back to the drawing board if Wollongong City Council has its way, with the plans recommended for refusal, and procedures have been put in place to ensure Wollongong Catholic high students don't again send emails containing "explicit language and offensive comments".

Today is September 23, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, a $30 million plan to turn a steep bush block at the back of Keiraville into a closely-stacked site for 47 new homes should be knocked back by the NSW Government, Wollongong City Council planners say, and a swoop on Illawarra construction sites by SafeWork inspectors led to dozens of notices being handed out for unsafe practices - including workers at risk of falling from scaffolding.

Today is September 22, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, the COVID-19 pandemic has given Wollongong the perfect opportunity to prove its worth as a commercial hub for government offices, Wollongong's Deputy Lord Mayor says, and beachgoers are being urged to "keep a towel length" between them as part of the state government's new COVID-safe summer strategy.

Today is September 21, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, NSW Health has put out a health alert for several locations in Western and South Western Sydney and the South Coast, after a taxi driver tested positive for COVID-19, and the reopening of Wollongong's main shopping strip to traffic is set to become even less likely this week, as the council prepares to adopt a strategy to make parking and driving in parts of the CBD more unattractive.

Today is September 18, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, Australia needed to look beyond wind and solar for the energy sources of the future, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said in Wollongong on Thursday, and McDonald's controversial plan to build a 24-hour fast-food outlet in the farmland development suburb of Wongawilli should be knocked back, according to Wollongong City Council planners.

Today is September 17, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, Wollongong Coal's bid to expand underneath the water catchment has been recommended for approval by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, which found the benefits outweighed the costs and the project was in the public interest, and Wollongong council will push ahead with its controversial plan to ban new residential buildings in some parts of the CBD, warning that without a major policy shift the area risks losing its role as a true regional city.

Today is September 16, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, the revenue from Illawarra's speed cameras has dropped by more than a million dollars - and more than half of that shortfall came from just one camera – and covered walkways between the lifts at Unanderra station isn't part of Transport for NSW plans, but they are considering them.

Story Summary: Today is September 15, 2020 and this is your daily news briefing from The Illawarra Mercury. In today’s update, developers have lodged a new plan for one of the few large parcels of vacant residential land in Warrawong, hoping to transform a disused asbestos-riddled site into 18 homes, and all attendees at private gatherings above the 20-visitor limit at New South Wales homes now risk being slapped with a $1000 fine under new Public Health Order amendments that came into effect on Monday.