Stockton Coastal Management Program

Stockton Coastal Management Program 2020

The Stockton Coastal Management Program (CMP) 2020 includes actions to help manage, maintain, and preserve the coast between the northern breakwater of the Hunter River and Meredith Street. This area is shown on the map. The geographical boundary for this CMP was restricted at the time due to a tight timeframe placed on the development of the CMP.

The program has mass sand nourishment as the preferred solution to re-establish a sand buffer between the ocean and public assets while also returning amenity and access to the Stockton coastal zone. This involves placing a large amount of suitable sand off Stockton from the breakwater to just past Meredith Street.

Longer-term, mass sand nourishment needs to be complemented by other coastal management actions to prolong the benefits of the sand buffer and ensure the entire Stockton Bight can be enjoyed by locals and visitors for years to come.

Extended Stockton Coastal Management Program

CN is currently preparing an Extended Stockton Coastal Management Program (CMP) which broadens the geographical area covered by the Stockton CMP 2020 to include the northern end of Stockton Beach from Meredith Street to the Port Stephens Local Government Area boundary, as shown on the map. The land to the north of Meredith Street is owned and managed by Defence Housing Australia, Hunter Water, Crown Land and the Department of Communities and Justice, and CN is working closely with these stakeholders.

Work was completed in December 2021 to evaluate four additional coastal management schemes, identified from feedback from the community (PDF 227KB), to complement mass sand nourishment. Click on the images below to learn more about each of the four schemes or read a summary in our printable Fact Sheet (PDF).

The Extended Stockton Coastal Management Program will incorporate the findings of the Evaluation Report, which identified that an ongoing program of sand maintenance or "amenity" nourishment is the best way to provide a buffer for the coastline and beach amenity at Stockton.

What's next?

The development of a Coastal Management Program follows a five-stage process directed by the Coastal Management Act 2016.

CN has completed Stage 1 and Stage 2 of this process for the Extended Stockton Coastal Management Program. We are now working on Stage 3 which included evaluation of the four complementary coastal management schemes to extend the life of the mass sand nourishment.

From here, CN will work with all relevant stakeholders to develop management actions that will be included in the Extended Stockton Coastal Management Program.