The club was established on the back of the need for a rescue service for Newcastle harbour. The founding fathers of the club were members of the 'Rocket Brigade', Stockton men who launched rowboats to salvage sailors whose ships had struck danger navigating the port.

Fast forward over a century later and the scenario could not be more different. The very thing that saw the club established - the port - is directly contributing to the erosion crisis on our hands.

Surf clubs up and down the east coast of Australia are a microcosm of the communities they serve.

Stockton is no different. The rich history created by club members over decades is phenomenal. The heroism of the 1956 Stockton Bight disaster and the rescue efforts of Stockton club members during the Maitland floods spring to mind.

With that go stories of our beach from yesteryear. Older members and stalwarts of the club and community talk with grins on their faces and delight in their voices of the rolling sand dunes and the long walk from the start of the sand to the water's edge.

Now, those stalwarts talk of the heartbreak the erosion crisis is causing.

As this preventable problem has tightened its grip on our beach, our community has suffered as a result.

Many people have told me how important the beach is for them, and has been their whole life in some cases. The ritual of many, to come home from work and head to the beach to unwind is not a reality anymore. People head there now to have a look at how much more sand we have lost.

Stockton people have not only suffered socially and culturally but now the erosion crisis is having an economic impact too.

This month saw the peninsula's only daycare centre close its doors. It means families need to find alternate care arrangements some distance away from where they live. It means jobs lost in the community.

As president of the club and less than a week away from the patrolling season, our members and committee are usually busily preparing for the start of the season.

Sadly, instead of getting ready to put the flags up, the club's committee is assessing what our season will look like.

It is a grim thought that our club may well be the first in NSW and perhaps Australia, to temporarily cease patrolling because of erosion.

I hope it does not come to that. When critical community services such as childcare and lifesaving clubs are at risk, it is time to act.

Our surf club has worked collaboratively and constructively with City of Newcastle and the NSW government for years to find a long-term solution to this problem and has had input into the navigation of the arduous bureaucratic processes, long before it became a crisis.

Through that time, many studies have clearly shown that the hard structures of the breakwall and deepening of the harbour have resulted in sand loss for Stockton beach.

Council have done almost everything within their limited budget and powers to reach a long-term solution - now the state government must act.

There is no more time for long and expensive studies, that conclude what has been shown before.

They cannot sit idly by, counting the proceeds of the sale of the port without immediate action for this crisis. Our community needs to get back to the days of the rolling dunes and long walk to the water's edge.