Details of the application lodged last week emerged on Sunday as thousands descended on the peninsula's foreshore for an emphatic display of community unity.

Elder Lennie Anderson has sought the protection order under the National Parks and Wildlife Act. He believes the relocation of the cabins amounts to "cultural destruction" of the land.

"Newcastle council have relocated cabins to the public area, substantiated them by installing sub-surface services ... without any DA [development application] or public awareness," he wrote in am email sent to Heritage NSW last Tuesday, later referred to the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE).

"Over the past 20 years I have re-iterated and explained the 'significance' of that immediate area to the Aboriginal people (Worimi) to council and their staff.

"It appears to no avail, cabins have been relocated, sub-surface damage has been done to areas without any care or thought.

"I want an order in place immediately to stop this cultural destruction until they at least speak to our people."

The shifting of the cabins onto Crown Land managed by council near Stockton pool has been viewed as a land grab by some local residents, but many feel it has been intensified by a lack of transparency or clear communication about the move.

City of Newcastle CEO Jeremy Bath said on Sunday the protection order was a matter for the NSW government, but the temporary relocation of the cabins was "complicated" because of the "significant economic role the caravan park plays in the local Stockton community".

"Without a permanent solution to coastal erosion, the entire caravan park is at risk," Mr Bath said.

"This is a fact the Stockton community will shortly need to consider as they weigh up both the location of the cabins but also what measures are acceptable to protect local roads and homes.

"A DA is currently being prepared and should it be refused, the cabins will be removed and the caravan park will trade at a significantly reduced capacity."

Attendees at Sunday's rally wore red clothes and carried placards inscribed with a range of messages, many of them directed at politicians.

They stood almost hand in hand from the recently closed Lexie's cafe to the site of the former child care centre, which was forced to close last year and later demolished.

While the rally was a quiet one with the crowd stretched more than a kilometre long, the line stood out among the eroded sections of beach and areas which could come under threat in the future.

When the community first began calling for action to the erosion issues last year, the message displayed around town was a simple one: Save Stockton Beach.

But for many, it is no longer about saving only the beach. It is about saving their suburb and way of life.

Community campaigner Lucas Gresham said the rally had attracted "at least a couple of thousand" people, which showed the community was "seeing red".

"We're sick of the inaction," he said.

"We're trying to show the little Stockton community that they believe really doesn't matter, we actually do, and not only do we matter we're here to stand together and unite as one.

"We put out the call to arms to broader Newcastle and we've got people here from Cessnock, Singleton, Muswellbrook."

Mr Gresham said the loss of the popular beachside cafe last week had left the community angry but motivated to lift its public advocacy.

"We're not just after saving the beach, we're after saving the community," he said.

"The difference for us now is we are uniting, Newcastle is uniting."

The campaigner declared to the crowd gathered outside Lexie's that there would be "more rallies" and later told the Newcastle Herald that a protest at Parliament House was "on the cards".

"We are quite cranky now," Mr Gresham said.

"We ask the government and the council, as friends, to work out the situation and see what we can do going forward and work together."

As the rally commenced, Local Government Minister Shelley Hancock issued a media release saying City of Newcastle had been told to prepare its Coastal Management Program (CMP) by June 30, bringing forward a deadline by 18 months.

"Last year after visiting the region I expressed my expectation that council was to fast-track its investigations into finding long-term solutions to manage the beach. However, they are yet to provide me a completed CMP," Ms Hancock, who visited Stockton with Environment Minister Matt Kean last year, said.

"Now under section 13 of the Coastal Management Act 2016, I have directed council to expedite its preparation, given the amount of community concern and interest in Stockton beach and to help ensure a long-term management plan is finalised as quickly as possible.

"The DPIE will do everything in its power to assist council to meet this new deadline. To that end, council will be assisted with resourcing for the additional staff required to expedite the preparation of the CMP."

While details of the resources for staff were scant, the Herald understands the new deadline could compromise the quality of, or ability to actually fully complete, the multi-stage plan.

In a statement issued after the minister's release, City of Newcastle said parts of the plan would need to be skipped in order to meet the deadline.

"More than 12 months ago the NSW government rejected our request that Stockton be fast tracked by having its own management plan," it said. "As recently as late last year the government's bureaucrats were still expanding the CMP through the inclusion of Throsby Creek.

"This deadline can only be met if multiple steps in the government's legislated process are waived.

"What is critical and what we have asked for is which steps in their process we can skip without giving the government justification to reject the submitted CMP. To date we have not received an answer to this question."

The statement said it was only with "genuine support from the NSW government that City of Newcastle stands any chance of delivering a CMP for Stockton by 30 June which they will certify".

"The actual deadline for council is much sooner than 30 June given the draft CMP must be placed on public exhibition for 28 days," it said.

"This is so that the community can provide feedback on a long term solution for the coastal erosion caused by the Stockton Breakwall, which of course is 100 per cent owned by the NSW government."

Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp said he welcomed "any additional resources committed" by the state government, but said the "community needs help now - not on 30 June".

Locals at the rally told the Herald of their anger, frustration and sadness about the ongoing eroision crisis.

Elizabeth Durbin, 52, and her partner Craig Garlick, 59, moved to Stockton from the Hunter Valley in 2018 for a sea change. They said the destruction since had been demoralising to see.

"Within 18 months the beach has gone from being beautiful to almost nothing at all," Ms Durbin said.

Mr Garlick suggested the Port of Newcastle or companies exporting from the port should come to the party with funding for a solution, but Ms Durbin said those companies were paying or had paid the state "a lot of money" to use the port.

"The state's just announced they've blown out their [Metro] train budget by $3 billion," Ms Durbin said.

"We're not looking at anywhere near that amount to fix this entire problem.

"How can they justify spending that type of money, yet let this go unrepaired?"

Mr Garlick said the government was choosing to "hide behind legislation" that prevented offshore sand dredging, which could help repair the beach.

It was a view shared by many at the rally, including Murray Jones, who made up huge banners calling out Deputy Premier John Barilaro and Premier Gladys Berejiklian.

Dressed in a red Hawaiian shirt, Mr Jones delivered the banners to the rally using a wheelbarrow, lining them out next to the surf club.

"It's ridiculous," the 50-year-old builder said. "We've had quotes of five or six million to do this from someone based here who has done it in Queensland."

Fellow local Harvey Plumsted said the government could "change the legislation with the stroke of a pen".

"They did it with the [Newcastle] rail line, they can do it here now," he said.

Mr Plumsted's dad Peter, 89, said the sand-pumping operation "would be a start".

"I've been watching it for 50 years slowly creeping back," he said. "They think someone is going to come up with a cheap cure, but it is not going to be cheap and it's going to be a long time."

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and her deputy John Barilaro were last week urged to visit Stockton.