The beach that lost some 20,000 cubic metres of sand to large swells last year has been battered again

This article is more than 7 months old

This article is more than 7 months old

“Devastating” erosion at Newcastle’s Stockton beach has put the future of surfing and surf live saving in jeopardy, as anxious residents await further damaging swells at the end of the week.

The director of education at the Stockton surf life saving club, Willow Forsyth, said 3,600 cubic metres of sand that was injected into targeted areas of the beach in December had been swept away, and even more damage done by this week’s storms.

“The council is doing a fantastic job, but 5,500 tonnes of sand and more was lost to the storm,” she said. “It’s devastating.”

Forsyth said the beach deserved as much consideration as Newcastle’s port, and losing it was “totally inequitable”. All programs at the life saving club have been halted, but Forsyth said the effect was worst on its junior program.

Sydney weather: Collaroy and Narrabeen suffer beach erosion as huge waves steal 25m of sand Read more

“It’s a critical time in their life where they’re learning to face challenges.

“The disruption to the program breaks down their whole social network – they don’t see their mates, they don’t get to play with them or tell each other ‘hey did you see that wave?’

“It’s OK for the older generation who know how to swim and have established themselves in life, but with the kids we’re losing an entire generation,” Forsyth said.

“The government is allowing this to destroy their opportunity for learning and this program is a great leadership opportunity that they’re now missing out on.”

The president of the Northside Boardriders, Simon Jones, an electrician and lifelong surfer who grew up and learned to surf in Stockton, said the destruction of the beach had created a “huge shift” in the local surfing community.

“There are people who I wouldn’t have met or spoken to if it wasn’t for the beach and surfing – it’s impossible to put a dollar sign on these kinds of things and that’s what they [politicians] don’t get.

“It’s heartbreaking, it really is – the state government is not too proactive,” he said.

On Monday Newcastle’s lord mayor, Nuatali Nelmes, called on the state government to declare a natural disaster at the beach, saying property and community safety was “under direct threat”.

A crane has been brought in to move beachside cabins that were at risk of toppling into the sea after the weekend storms.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Newcastle City council uses a crane to move cabins from the Stockton caravan park. Photograph: Darren Pateman/AAP

The beach had already lost 19,900 cubic metres of sand to large swells in August and September, resulting in the demolition of a beachside childcare centre.

The council has put in sandbags as a temporary measure to mitigate erosion, with more damage expected at the beach in the coming days as the effects of cyclone Uesi are felt on the NSW coast.

“With high seas forecast again this weekend, the City carried out emergency sandbag work … on the northern end of the seawall in front of Stockton surf life saving club at Dalby oval, the southern section of the seawall at the Lexie’s accessway and at the southern end of the Mitchell Street seawall near Pembroke Street,” a city council spokesperson said.

Jones said the erosion was “something like a test case in what climate change is doing to beaches across the world”, and the damage done over the years may already be too far gone to restore the beach to its original state.

“We’ve already had the storm last year and the sand that was put into the beach, as well as something shy of 10 million cubic metres of sand, is gone and I don’t think we’ll ever see that again.”

'It's heartbreaking': a coastal community watches its beach wash away Read more

About 7,400 cubic metres of sand is due to be imported to the beach in stage two of the Newcastle Coastal Management Program.

Forsyth warned that continued erosion affected more than just leisure activities.

“We’re more vulnerable to disasters now – the storm that happened over the weekend wasn’t big but the impact was huge.

“We don’t have a sand barrier anymore to protect us – the sand dissipates the friction and energy of waves and allows large waves to become smaller when they hit the land. But with the beach gone, we’re exposed.”

The coastal management plan will use 80,000 trucks over six years and will cost more than $52m.

Nelmes said the management plan highlighted the need for a review of state legislation regarding offshore sand dredging for beach nourishment, which is used in other states.