City of Newcastle will undertake short-term remediation work at Bar Beach next week to combat erosion threatening the stability of the sand dunes, following recent severe storm events and large swells.
Heavy machinery will be used to scrape sand from the lower part of the beach and deposit it closer to land to support and accelerate the natural process of sand accumulation.
The work is intended to strengthen the resilience of the dune system while City of Newcastle continues to develop long-term management solutions for the Bar Beach to Merewether embayment as part of the Southern Beaches Coastal Management Program (CMP).
City of Newcastle's Executive Manager Environment and Sustainability Marnie Kikken said sand scraping is an interim solution to a complex issue.
"The current erosion south of Cooks Hill Surf Life Saving Club is approximately 100 metres in length, with an erosion width varying from 5-10 metres," Ms Kikken said.
"The short-term remediation will build a protective buffer to help reduce the immediate risks to public safety and infrastructure and reduce the risk of further erosion.
"However, the work is subject to natural processes and could be seriously impacted by a single severe storm event."
The short-term remediation work will begin on Monday and is expected to take five days to complete. It has been designed to cause minimal disruption to residents, businesses and surf lifesaving club activities.
A small section of the Dixon Park Beach carpark will be used as a site compound for equipment, with a temporary ramp to be built to allow machinery to access the beach.
There will be intermittent disruptions and pedestrian diversions along Bathers Way to allow machinery access, with the operation of heavy equipment along Dixon Park Beach and Bar Beach to take place during normal business hours.
There will also be temporary closures of sections of Bar Beach for public safety.
The current fencing and exclusion zones remain in place along the Bathers Way due to the unstable dune, with City of Newcastle's coastal engineers conducting regular inspections and ongoing stability assessments of the cliff and promenade.
The development of a more permanent solution for the stretch of coastline has moved a step closer with City of Newcastle recently completing a month-long education campaign and eight-week community engagement process on the Southern Beaches CMP.
More than 800 people attended in-person pop-up events across Newcastle during the consultation, with almost 1400 contributions received through the online survey and poll on potential management options for the coastline from Bar Beach to Merewether.
The feedback will be considered as part of the development of the draft CMP, which is expected to go on public exhibition in 2026.
