As part of the $170,000 upgrade, the public wharf will be completely redeveloped.

Council said a grant secured from NSW Maritime’s Better Boating Program, worth over $80,000, will assist in the much needed upgrade.

Great Lakes Council said the existing 10m pontoon will be replaced with a 36m boating facility, accessible from both sides, to increase berthing space to 50m.

Great Lakes mayor, Jan McWilliams said every attempt was being made to finalise the work before the first holiday break in October.

“There have been a few boating issues around the public wharf, especially during the busy holiday periods,” Cr McWilliams said.

“The new wharf and pontoon is going to go a long way to reducing boating congestion and improve marine access to Tea Gardens.”

Before the upgrades were announced, local businesses owners warned that the state of the wharves was a concern for tourism in the area, as they were too small to moor visiting boats.

The community became concerned when the pylons supporting the wharves appeared to become unstable and disintegrated.

Council said the upgrades would increase the opportunity for recreational activities and current commercial operations, like the ferry services to Port Stephens.

Spokesperson for the Myall River Action Group, Gordon Grainger said the group was pleased work had progressed to this stage and said he hoped that in the future more floating pontoons would be built along the waterfront.