Sandy rainbow a welcome sight after gritty collaboration to replenish Stockton beach

We've worked with the Minister for the Hunter, Yasmin Catley, Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty, federal MP Sharon Claydon and state MP Tim Crakanthorp to secure the funding and approvals required for this crucial process.

The outcome has been made possible thanks to many years of advocacy from the Stockton community, working alongside councillors and City of Newcastle staff. Together we have been, and remain, committed to addressing erosion in Stockton, and like many locals, we've become frustrated at times by the bureaucratic hurdles faced and the sheer time taken to see sand 'rainbowing' onto the beach.

But how did we get here? In February 2018 we formed the Stockton Community Liaison Group, with members of the Stockton community, government agencies, community groups and the business community to discuss the action plan for addressing erosion at Stockton beach. The group played an important role during the development of NSW's first certified Coastal Management Program (CMP), which was implemented to guide actions to manage, maintain and preserve Stockton's coastline. The CMP outlined mass sand nourishment as the preferred solution to re-establish a sand buffer between the ocean and public assets, while also returning amenity and access to the coastline for locals and visitors.

The Stockton Beach Taskforce, now chaired by Ms Moriarty, was established in 2020 to drive the implementation of the sustainable long-term solutions to the coastal erosion issues for Stockton beach. The taskforce has been focused on sand-sourcing options, mitigation of loss of beach amenity and seeking funding.

Since the election of the Minns government in March this year, work has quickly progressed to approve the current sand spraying, and to continue planning for a long-term solution. This is a significant improvement to the former government's unreasonable demand for local councils to apply for a mining licence to gain access to offshore sand.

This initial phase of amenity sand nourishment, delivered by the NSW Government, has been funded by a $6.2 million grant through the Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program, which includes $4.7 million from the federal government and $1.5 million from City of Newcastle.

The grant funding has also enabled studies by the NSW Government into possible sources of much larger volumes of sand from the north arm of the Hunter River and offshore sources, as well as the environmental approvals required for mass sand nourishment. While amenity nourishment has taken sand from the outer harbour, mass nourishment is a complex process never before undertaken in NSW, and will require 2.4 million cubic metres of sand.

City of Newcastle has committed $27.5 million to saving Stockton beach, including funding for protective works including the placement of 1294 rock bags along a 210-metre section the coastline along Barrie Crescent in 2021 and recent repairs to Stockton breakwater. Work also started last month on building a buried protection structure at the southern end of the existing Mitchell Street seawall in Stockton. City of Newcastle is also developing the draft Extended Stockton Coastal Management Program ahead of seeking feedback from the community through public exhibition in 2024.

With all three levels of government working together, it is wonderful to see just how powerful collaboration between community and government can be. While this is an extremely exciting time for all who have been involved in what has been an extensive process to bring us to this point, this is just the beginning of what's needed as we look towards long-term mass sand nourishment to ensure that we continue to protect Stockton's coastline for future generations.

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