Sand is set to be replenished on Stockton Beach in October after a contract was awarded to dredge Newcastle Harbour.
RN Dredging will spray 100,000 cubic metres of sand onto the surf zone at the southern end of Stockton Beach.
It comes after the federal government and City of Newcastle committed a combined $6.2 million in October 2022 to dredge 300,000 cubic metres of sand onto the beach.
The plan is still to deliver that amount, but unforeseen issues relating to dredging approvals mean 100,000 cubic metres of sand will initially be deposited.
The sand will be sourced from an outer shipping channel of Newcastle Harbour, known as 'Area E'. Minister for Regional NSW Tara Moriarty said the area was chosen due to the quality of sand in the patch.
"Working together with three levels of government... we've been able to work through those very challenging licencing issues together and now we're ready to go in the next couple of weeks," Ms Moriarty said.
Sections of the beach may be closed during the process and a 200-metre exclusion zone will also be placed around the dredger. Timing will be announced closer to the date due to weather and tide patterns.
"We're very serious about getting this work done as soon as possible," Ms Moriarty said.
"It has to be done in stages so that we can make sure it is being done in a sustainable way. We will make sure the community is kept up to date."
The Stockton Beach Taskforce met following the announcement about the contract on September 27. The next steps include investigating longer-term sources of sand reserves and a delivery plan for the NSW government's $21 million election commitment.
"We'll work through where the next lot of sand will come from," Ms Moriarty said. "We'll listen to the experts on that."
Minister for the Hunter Yasmin Catley said the NSW government was delivering on that election promise to replenish sand at Stockton.
"The infrastructure that was at serious risk can now be assured that it will be safe from deteriorating and eroding into the beach," she said.
Newcastle lord mayor Nuatali Nelmes said "this is something that we have fought for, for so long in Newcastle".
"Our team has been working alongside the community for a number of years, developing the state's first certified Coastal Management Program, securing the $21 million commitment from the NSW Government for mass sand nourishment, and now working collaboratively with Department of Regional NSW and NSW Public Works to see this much needed first round of amenity sand nourishment finally on its way to Stockton," she said.
Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon said it had been a collaborative approach, and said the Port of Newcastle had offered "up a really important source of sand that will be going across to Stockton Beach".
"There's a lot more work to be done," she said.
