Recent storms have exposed the coastal erosion problems plaguing the Hunter and Central Coast, with major swells damaging beaches across the region.

The large swells over the weekend have stripped sand from our beaches right across the Hunter and Central Coast, with the unbelievable photos of Redhead Beach showing just how big an impact coastal erosion is having upon our beaches. The swells that battered Redhead were so large that waves reached the surf club and café, along with damaging surrounding infrastructure.

The solution to this issue maybe staring us right in the face with the excess sand from the upcoming dredging of Swansea Channel having the potential to help renourish our beaches.

In 2019, a successful trial to use dredged sand from Swansea Channel was used to renourish Blacksmiths Beach. This one-off initiative received significant community support and saw beach conditions improve.

Member for Swansea – Ms Yasmin Catley MP said “I am calling on the Government to use the sand from dredging Swansea Chanel to renourish our beaches, it is an opportunity to address coastal erosion that should not be missed”.

“The sand from the Channel is usually dumped on Elizabeth Island but a pilot program in 2019 saw the sand used to renourish Blacksmiths Beach to great success.”

“The reuse of this sand helps solve two problems at once and just simply makes sense as the logical course of action moving forward”.