A series of heavy swells stripped about six metres of sand from the foreshore last September and exposed geofabric covering installed in 2018 to protect the northern end of the beach.

In recent months almost 4000 tonnes of waste, including asbestos was excavated from the 30 metre by 15 metre site near Corroba Oval and taken to the Summerhill Waste Management Centre.

The excavation work followed the installation of a temporary sandbag seawall the site in September.

The emergency work was carried out by Crown Lands and the Soil Conservation Service with support from Hunter Water and Environment Protection Authority.

The former tip, which was used until the early 1970s, was last exposed in 2018.

The Newcastle Herald reported that tubes of cosmetics, used bandages, car parts and asbestos were among the items that escaped from the site and washed onto Stockton Beach.

The incident resulted in about about 8000 tonnes of waste being dug out of the site and transported to Summerhill.

Work to revegetate the area and support the rehabilitation of the coastal ecosystem is now underway.

Attention has now turned to stabilising the area in the long-term.

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Work to secure the long-term viability of the Stockton foreshore took a significant step forward last August when the state government certified a coastal management program for the area.

It was the first such program to be certified under the state government's Coastal Management Act.

Almost three quarters of Stockton residents indicated their support for the plan, which proposes a mix of immediate and longer-term measures to replenish the beach and protect coastal assets.

Longer-term actions identified in the program include a mass offshore marine sand nourishment campaign of 2.4 million cubic metres and an ongoing 10-year maintenance program to provide the necessary protection for Stockton.

The Newcastle Herald reported last month that an analysis prepared for City of Newcastle had found that ongoing sand nourishment was considered to be the most "cost effective and efficient" solution to address beach erosion at Stockton.

The outcomes of the analysis of potential solutions, which considered performance, environmental and social factors and included a cost benefit analysis, was presented to the Stockton Community Liaison Group last month.

The analysis considered options including an artificial reef, an artificial headland, sand back passing, and maintenance sand nourishment were assessed. Mass sand nourishment supported by annual ... top ups was found to be the most sustainable solution.

The council's next step is to progress discussions about funding options for the coastal management scheme with the NSW government.

This time it wasn't Stockton. Instead residents of Sydney's Collaroy Beach were left shaking their heads after a large swell left their cherished beach looking like a rocky outcrop.

The swell generated by ex-tropical Cyclone Seth on January 5 also completely exposed a controversial seawall designed to protect beachfront properties from coastal erosion.

Construction on the seven-metre tall, 1.3 kilometre long wall began in late 2020.

It followed the fallout from a 2016 storm which severely damaged homes and pushed an in-built swimming pool into the sea.

The incident, which left a $25 million damage bill, prompted the state government and the Northern Beaches Council to begin work on a permanent solution to storm surges.

The project, which stretches Collaroy to South Narrabeen, protects 49 private properties, 11 public land areas, a car park and a surf club.

Like Stockton, debate about the merits of sea walls have divided the community. Rather than protecting the beach, some believe the structure amplified the effects of last week's heavy swell.

Hundreds of locals converged on the beach late last year to demand that the council invest in alternative measures to protect the beach, such as sand nourishment, which has been proposed as a long-term solution for Stockton Beach.

A Northern Beaches Council spokesperson said the recent severe erosion was not a direct result of the seawall's construction.

"The beach will recover once conditions ease," he said.

"The rocks exposed from the recent high tides and large swell are part of the temporary rock bund that is protecting the seawall being built during construction which will ultimately be removed once construction is complete."

At least three-quarters of the wall will be covered by sand when it is complete.

Surfrider Foundation Northern Beaches branch president Brendan Donohoe said the wall had turned the beach into a "public hazard."

"If we get another big swell over the next few weeks this beach will be impassable," he said.

The Insurance Council of Australia estimates Australian Governments will need to invest $30 billion in large scale coastal protection and adaptation projects over the next 50 years, as climate change makes coastal communities, property, and infrastructure increasingly vulnerable.

A report, prepared for the ICA late last year found climate change was driving rising sea levels and exacerbating coastal hazards known as 'actions of the sea'. These included tidal inundation, coastal and estuarine inundation, coastal erosion, and shoreline movement.

A growing number of exposed properties in Australia were becoming uninhabitable as a consequence of the increased frequency and intensity of these events,

Insurance cover for actions of the sea is generally not available because of the inherent risks and is further constrained because of the growing risks from climate change impacts.

"Insurers are generally not able to cover actions of the sea because of the nature of the risk, but we can improve protections for communities and property owners by raising awareness of the risks, improving data and understanding, and advocating for investment in mitigation and adaptation projects," Insurance Council of Australia chief executive Andrew Hall said.

But the report also found there were limits to mitigation and in some cases adaptive management and planned retreat from coastal hazard zones may be the best long-term option.

The report recommends urgent action by federal and state governments to build a coastal hazard information database to measure and monitor actions of the sea as sea levels rise.

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