City of Newcastle has called for a meeting of the NSW Deputy Premier's Stockton Beach Taskforce over fears that sand renourishment could be delayed by a NSW government agency not being allocated to parts of the project.
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Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes raised the issue at Tuesday's council meeting, which was followed by a Stockton Community Liaison Group meeting on Thursday.
City of Newcastle is in the final stages of preparing the Extended Stockton Coastal Management Program, which outlines a list of actions to complete mass sand nourishment at Stockton Beach.
Cr Nelmes said for the management program to be certifiable and enacted, a delivery agent and viable funding source for the mass sand nourishment actions must be identified.
She said the government advised it was council's responsibility to go to state government agencies and "beg them to be responsible".
"I think it's up to the NSW government, not up to council, to let us know if it's Public Works, if it's DPE, if it's Crown Land," Cr Nelmes said.
She said the program not being finalised will mean it won't go on public exhibition and the $6.2 million Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program grant awarded last year won't be accessed and delivered by NSW Public Works.
Stockton Community Liaison Group chair Barbara Whitcher said action was needed before more sand was washed away from the beach.
"The east coast lows are likely to arrive any time, and we need commitment from the state government to solve the problem of erosion," she said.
NSW Deputy Premier Paul Toole did not say if he would organise another meeting of the Taskforce to determine the NSW government agency.
"I recently offered Newcastle council the services of Public Works to project manage the Commonwealth funded works at Stockton beach," he said.
"The Newcastle mayor is always welcome to contact me or my office directly, as the local member for Newcastle often does.
"NSW Public Works sits within the Department of Regional NSW and is the relevant agency to use its engineering and project management expertise to assist the council deliver all or part of the works funded under the Commonwealth program."
Sage Swinton
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
Sage Swinton is a news reporter who was born and bred in the Hunter. She has been with the Newcastle Herald since June 2020, and covers Newcastle council as well as other general news.
