On 21 June 2025, Minister for the Environment, Penny Sharpe MLC and Yasmin Catley MP, the Minister for the Hunter, announced that the NSW Government has allocated $21.5 million in the 2025–26 NSW Budget for mass sand nourishment at Stockton Beach to repair long-standing erosion issues.
This investment delivers on the NSW Government's election commitment to fund the largest beach repair project ever undertaken in New South Wales.
To repair the beach, we will hire dredging services, work with the community, deliver sand to the beach, and monitor and evaluate the project.
Stockton Beach Coastal Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program update
Progress has been made on Parts B and C of the Stockton Beach Coastal Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program project, which involves investigating potential sand sources in the Hunter River north arm and offshore marine areas.
Under Offshore Exploration Licence (EL9040), exploration activities were conducted in Stockton Bight from early March to mid-April 2025.
The main exploration activities included:
- mapping different types of sand on the seafloor using multi-beam echo sounding, magnetometer technology and sub-bottom profiling
- collecting sediment samples from the seafloor
- collecting shallow sediment core samples (to approximately 6 metres deep).
Core logs and towed video footage have been retained for inspection through arrangement.
Results from the exploration work will guide the next steps for adding sand to Stockton Beach.
In late April 2025, tenders were called for the preparation of a Review of Environmental Factors (Environmental Assessment) for sourcing sand from the Hunter River north arm and offshore marine areas.
Stockton Special Advisory Panel
The Stockton Special Advisory Panel was created after the Stockton Beach Taskforce ended in late 2024. The decision to cease the taskforce was made by the Minister for the Hunter, the Hon Yasmin Catley MP, who considered that the taskforce had completed its intended remit.
The panel, chaired by Tim Crakanthorp MP, Member for Newcastle, will monitor progress and be consulted on:
- remaining activities funded under the Coastal Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program
- transitioning from the Coastal Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program to delivery by the NSW Government of the $21 million mass sand nourishment funding commitment and governance framework
- planning for the long-term implementation, monitoring and maintenance of mass sand nourishment.
The panel members include representatives from the department, NSW Public Works, City of Newcastle Council, the Stockton community, Worimi Registered Aboriginal Parties and Port of Newcastle. The panel had its first meeting on 1 April 2025, and will meet up to 3 times year.
Meeting summary – Stockton Special Advisory Panel April 2025
Tim Crakanthorp MP, Member for Newcastle chaired the first meeting, which was attended by representatives from the department, NSW Public Works, City of Newcastle Council and the Stockton community.
Topics discussed included:
- an update from the department on the Stockton Coastal Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program and election commitment project
- an update from NSW Public Works on the status of the Coastal Estuarine Risk Mitigation Program
- an update from City of Newcastle on the draft Extended Stockton Coastal Management Program, which was on public exhibition during March and April 2025
- community questions and discussion.
Launch of the Stockton Beach nearshore wave buoy monitoring dashboard
The department has launched a public dashboard that shows data from the nearshore wave buoy deployed in 13 metres of water off Stockton Beach. The wave buoy was installed in July 2024 and provides a range of information in real-time, including:
- wave height
- wave direction
- wave period
- sea temperature.
The department uses this wave data, along with beach monitoring cameras and drone surveys to investigate how coastal wave events impact the Stockton Beach coast.
View the Stockton Beach nearshore wave buoy monitoring dashboard
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Stockton Beach nearshore wave buoy with Stockton Beach visible in the background -
Department staff installing the Stockton Beach nearshore wave buoy in July 2024
Recent monitoring data at Stockton Beach
Department staff use regular drone surveys to monitor the impacts of coastal erosion events at Stockton Beach.
In August 2024, strong waves caused erosion along the Stockton coastline, especially north of the Mitchell Street seawall and on Hunter Water Corporation-owned land.
Drone data shows that much of the sand eroded during this event has since returned to the northern part of the beach, with about 35 cubic metres of sand per metre accreted along Eames Avenue between August 2024 and April 2025.
The map below compares drone surveys from 2 August 2024 and 4 April 2025, showing how the beach has widened north of the Mitchell Street seawall using a contour line at 2 metres above sea level.
In April and May 2025, more wave events caused new erosion in southern Stockton Beach, with The Pines area most heavily impacted. Based on our understanding of coastal processes at Stockton, we expect that much of this sand will slowly return to the beach under milder wave conditions.
The City of Newcastle Council will continue their regular program of beach scraping, where sand is moved from the lower part of the beach and deposited landward of the beach berm, increasing dune resilience along this section of the beach.
Panoramas captured during a recent drone survey of Stockton Beach on 4 April 2025 are available below.