Watch the beginning of an emergency operation to save Stockton holiday cabins

Meanwhile, the City of Newcastle is waiting to hear if its application to have the suburb declared a natural disaster zone has been successful.

It follows a weekend where hundreds of tonnes of sand was stripped from the already heavily eroded foreshore exposing areas that were previously untouched.

In a letter to NSW emergency services minister David Elliott, Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes said she was concerned that property and the safety of the community was now under threat.

"As such, I ask that you please declare a natural disaster at Stockton Beach, outside the coastal management plan process, in order to immediately address the disaster currently underway at Stockton," she said.

A natural disaster declaration would allow the council to access significant resources needed to undertake emergency works to protect infrastructure.

A spokesman for Mr Elliott said Stockton was one of several areas around the state that were being assessed following the weekend's extreme weather.

'Following severe weather conditions across large parts of the State, the NSW government, along with the State Emergency Service, are currently assessing impacted areas and will make natural disaster declarations as necessary," the spokesman said.

While the 75 tonnes of additional sandbags that were placed at Barrie Crescent Reserve on Friday held up to the extreme conditions, several metres of foreshore was stripped from the southern end of the beach.

Waves were breaking within three metres of cabins at Stockton Caravan Park during Monday morning's high tide.

A crane was expected to arrive at the caravan park on Tuesday morning to remove three of the cabins.

Many locals looked at the newly eroded parts of the foreshore in dismay on Monday as a long-term solution to the erosion crisis appeared no closer to becoming a reality.

"I feel that inaction has caused this; the government didn't do enough early on and it has led to the destruction of our coastline," Justin Martin said.

"It saddens me to see my hometown slowly being washed away, seeing younger generations not being able to enjoy what we had growing up, seeing older people in the community being restricted with no access except for sheer drop offs."

A City of Newcastle spokesman said the erosion in front of the caravan park would have been worse if the council had not undertaken a pilot sand renourishment project before Christmas.

"The sand from the pilot has moved to around 100 metres offshore, creating a flatter near-shore profile that reduced the overall wave-energy impact on the beachfront," he said.

The council estimates it has spent $5 million of its own funds on coastal erosion works at Stockton since 2015.

It is still awaiting to hear from the state government regarding its grant submission for coastal protection works at Barrie Crescent Reserve, which was lodged in September last year.

The Barrie Crescent Reserve project at the end of the Mitchell Street Seawall is expected to cost around $1 million.

"This work is a major priority for the City in order to protect the end of the seawall, nearby road infrastructure and property from further shoreline recession," a spokesman said.

Aside from emergency works, the council is lobbying the government to amend legislation to allow offshore dredging in Stockton Bight.

This would provide an ongoing source of sand to renourish the beach with rather than relying on a non-stop gonga line of trucks travelling through the suburb to deposit sand on the beach.

But little progress appears to have been made in recent months despite assurances that the option is under active consideration.

The Newcastle Herald understands that while offshore dredging is regarded as a practical solution for sand renourishment, it is opposed by bureaucrats who are concerned about its long-term environmental impacts.

Mr Martin echoed the sentiments of many locals who are believe the time for debate about the best way to save their beach has passed.

"For so many years we have heard that study after study was being done but no real action has ever taken place," he said.

"Government bodies have the results of all of the studies and advice given over the decades but continue to sit on their hands."

"The last lot of sand that the council dumped on the beach was a publicity stunt to try to quieten down the locals, anyone would have told you it was going to get washed away."

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