Stockton Beach in Newcastle has lost 50,000 truckloads of sand from coastal erosion

The beach town being swallowed by the ocean: Residents beg for help as relentless waves strip away 50,000 truckloads of sand

  • 500,000 cubic metres of sand has been washed away from Stockton Beach 
  • Businesses have closed fearing they could be washed away due to the erosion
  • Now waves are hitting up against bare rocks on the once picturesque beach 

Residents of a coastal town are devastated after erosion destroyed their popular beach, washing away 50,000 truckloads worth of sand.

Heavy waves this week took away 2.5 metres of sand from Stockton Beach near Newcastle, NSW, following five weeks of unprecedented coast erosion. 

Around 500,000 cubic metres of sand would be needed to replace what was swept away from the beach, news.com.au reported.   

Now waves are hitting up against bare rocks on the once picturesque beach, and businesses have closed fearing they too could be washed away. 

Heavy waves this week took away 2.5 metres of sand from Stockton Beach near Newcastle, following five weeks of unprecedented coastal erosion

Now waves are hitting up against bare rocks on the once picturesque beach, and businesses have closed fearing they too could be washed away

Now waves are hitting up against bare rocks on the once picturesque beach, and businesses have closed fearing they too could be washed away

Locals who live close to the coastline live in fear that their homes could be next.

‘It’s a crisis, a complete crisis. We’ve lost our suburb, because that beach is part of who we are,’ resident Lucas Gresham said.

‘Going for a walk along the beach before you go to work or after you’ve finished work is a thing that makes you feel grounded and closer to nature.’ 

‘The beach erosion forcing the closure of our only day care centre & the depletion of the marine life is devastating our community,’ he wrote on the town’s Go Fund Me page. 

The town of just over 4,000 people has been looking down the barrel of erosion for decades, but the recent damage is the worst residents have seen in 20 years.

Around 500,000 cubic metres of sand would be needed to replace what was swept away from the beach. Photo taken before the erosion

Around 500,000 cubic metres of sand would be needed to replace what was swept away from the beach. Photo taken before the erosion

The town of just over 4,000 people has been looking down the barrel of erosion for decades, but the recent damage is the worst residents have seen in 20 years

The town of just over 4,000 people has been looking down the barrel of erosion for decades, but the recent damage is the worst residents have seen in 20 years

‘We are living day by day in hope that something will change. But enough is enough,’ Mr Gresham said. 

The fifth-generation resident believes inaction from the NSW Government and temporary solutions by the local council isn’t an effective solution to the growing problem.

Local resident Ron Boyd, who specialises in coastal erosion, said the destruction has been caused by infrastructure at the Port of Newcastle which was sold to a Chinese consortium for $1.75 billion in 2014.

Ships coming in close to the port as well as breakwaters and a deep water channel have affected wave patterns and stopped replacement sand from coming onto the beach.

Instead, the lost sand ended up at nearby Newcastle Beach and Nobbys Beach. 

Labor leader Jodi McKay told NSW Parliament the situation was an ‘unfolding crisis’ on Wednesday and accused Premier Gladys Berejiklian of not taking the matter seriously. 

But the Premier argued that the government had already given City of Newcastle $142,000 to help Stockton locals living along the coast. 

Mr Gresham’s crowdfunding page has raised $16,000 to go towards a potential class action and to lodge a claim with the NSW Environmental Defender’s Office.

Ships coming in close to the port as well as breakwaters and a deep water channel have affected wave patterns and stopped replacement sand from coming onto the beach

Ships coming in close to the port as well as breakwaters and a deep water channel have affected wave patterns and stopped replacement sand from coming onto the beach

 

  

 

  

 

 

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