Around 130,000 cubic metres of sand has been delivered to Stockton Beach, NSW, as part of a $6.3 million project to remediate the heavily eroded coastline.
The project is being administered by the NSW Government, and jointly funded by the Federal Government’s 2022-23 Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program, and the City of Newcastle.
Stage one of work to renourish Stockton Beach is now complete, with the volume of suitable sand dredged and placed in the past three weeks exceeding the initial 100,000m3 target, delivering an additional 30,000 cubic metres of sand.
During the works, it became evident that more sand had accumulated in the approved dredging area in Newcastle Harbour. The Trud R, the dredging vessel that collected and sprayed the sand onto Stockton Beach, was able to dredge this additional sand.
Investigations into sourcing further sand for Stockton Beach continue.
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Federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said the Federal Government is pleased to work with the local Council to fund such an important project for the region.
“The NSW Government has made great progress with the sand renourishment project,” Watt said.
“The Federal Government’s Coastal and Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program recognises the need for coastal communities to have better resilience against the natural hazard induced events that we know will be coming in more frequency and more severity.”
Regional NSW Minister Tara Moriarty said the work is just the beginning, and what has been learned will inform the government’s commitment to Stockton and future investigations into longer-term solutions.
“We anticipated we would get at least 100,000 cubic metres of sand onto Stockton Beach in this initial phase of work, but I am delighted to share that we have exceeded those expectations to deliver even more,” Moriarty said.
“I know how important the beach is to the community, and how devastating it has been for them to see it washed away bit by bit, year after year.”
Investigations into sourcing further sand for Stockton Beach continue.
The NSW Government has steered this project while gathering key insights for a blueprint to help the Department of Planning and Environment map out the next steps for Stockton.
The Blueprint for Stockton, led by the Department of Planning & Environment, will be presented at the next Taskforce meeting in December as the NSW Government works to deliver on its $21 million promise to find long term solutions for coastal erosion at Stockton.