A three-metre swell combined with strong winds and a mid-afternoon high tide gnawed away several metres of sand from several beaches on Tuesday but stopped short of causing significant damage to property.

The biggest hotspot, Stockton, stood up well to the battering thanks to extra sandbagging around Mitchell Street, the surf club and in front of Lexies Cafe.

The City of Newcastle closed beach accessways in Stockton and reinforced current traffic controls in place at Barrie Crescent and Mitchell Street.

"Coastal erosion can change beach conditions dramatically and quickly. This can lead to sand cliff collapses without warning," the council said.

Jimmys Beach near Tea Gardens stood up relatively well but locals feared significant sand loss may occur on Wednesday.

"It's a fairly confused looking sea. The waves are coming in fairly tight from the east. I think we will see a large amount of erosion overnight," Myall River Action Group spokesman Gordon Grainger said.

A Mid Coast Council spokesman said it planned to pump 20,000 cubic metres of sand, recently dredged from the Myall River onto the beach after the severe weather had passed.

"Following the storm, we will review affected areas and implement works to ensure safety as required," he said.

Blacksmiths Beach, which has lost significant amounts of sand in recent years, remained relatively unscathed.

"We've inspected the beach and at this stage there appears to be minimal erosion," a Lake Macquarie City Council spokeswoman said.

"We will continue to monitor the area over while the severe weather warning is in place."

The severe weather warning remained in place for large parts of coastal NSW on Tuesday evening and Wednesday.

A damaging wind warning has also been issued for the coastal fringe of the Illawarra, Sydney metropolitan, Hunter and Mid North Coast districts with wind speeds expected to average 55 to 65 km/h.

The state government recently pledged $1 million to help address the Stockton erosion crisis

The funding announcement followed the first meeting of the Stockton Taskforce, which was created to improve coordination between government and council.

The taskforc is gathering preliminary baseline environmental data to help inform a future development application for offshore dredging.

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