Newcastle is rightly famous for its great surfing beaches and ocean baths in the heart of the city. However, they are under threat from plastic pollution, coastal erosion and rising sea levels.

The Hunter estuary includes a large area of wetlands from Stockton and Kooragang Island to Shortland, Hexham, Maryland and Minmi. For millennia the river and wetlands supported a large Aboriginal population, and their campsites, pathways, quarries and ceremonial sites once dotted the landscape. The estuary is home to endangered migratory and local birds, as well as being a significant fish and prawn nursery, and is protected in National Parks, Nature Reserves and by international treaties. 

The city is criss-crossed by a system of urban streams such as Ironbark and Throsby Creeks that carry urban run-off. They range from natural creeks to concrete channels, and they vary in their capacity to perform the functions expected of healthy waterways – carrying run-off, directing and storing floodwaters, supporting aquatic and riparian ecosystems, and removing water pollutants.

Living close to the water is generally desirable, as indicated by the price of waterfront properties. But it also brings exposure to hazards such as coastal erosion and flooding from stormwater, the rivers and tides. These hazards have become more frequent and more severe as the climate changes and sea levels rise. They have the potential to affect more than 11,000 properties across the Newcastle Local Government Area.  

Newcastle Greens believes that with proper management and planning coupled with an urgent response to the climate emergency, our beaches, headlands, wetlands, rivers and streams can be protected while residents continue to live beside them in safety. 

Newcastle Greens will work with the community and across all levels of Government to: 

Reduce coastal erosion by:

• Lobbying for an immediate increase to $100 million annually for the NSW Coastal and Estuary Grants Program that funds Local Government and community projects
• Ensuring access to emergency funding from the NSW Government to respond immediately to future storm damage at Stockton and other beaches
• Supporting the beach nourishment of Stockton by periodic offshore dredging and sand placement, monitoring the success (or otherwise) of the program, and lobbying for future funding support from the NSW Government and the Newcastle Port Corporation
• Developing a detailed program for city beaches south of the harbour to prepare for and begin managing beach erosion due to rising sea levels and changed storm conditions

Maintain free public access to the coast by:

• Opposing the privatisation of public land and public assets along the coast, either by sale or long-term lease
• Maintaining free public access to coastal venues such as beaches, parks, pavilions and baths 
• Ensuring that redevelopment of public facilities such as the ocean baths and surf clubs improves public services such as change-rooms, provides full disability access, maintains heritage values, and does not quarantine space for exclusive private use
• Identifying, protecting and ensuring cultural access to significant Aboriginal sites and landscapes on our coast and waterways

Keep our waterways, beaches and ocean free from pollution by:

• Continuing support for volunteers such as clean-up, coast-care and dune-care groups
• Introducing a city-wide ban on non-essential single-use plastic items such as drinking straws and plastic bags
• Applying water-sensitive urban design to all new developments and restoring the natural functions of modified creeks and floodplains 

Adapt to the risks of flooding and rising sea levels by:

• Immediately begin implementing the city’s low-lying areas strategy to protect harbourside suburbs from flooding and rising sea levels instead of waiting for the ‘10cm sea level rise’ trigger for actions
• Implementing the recommendations of the Wallsend Commercial Centre Flood Study to reduce flash flooding along Ironbark Creek, particularly in the Wallsend shopping centre
• Using a partnership between Council, Hunter Water and local communities to re-naturalise streams and wetlands to decrease flooding, improve water quality, and increase biodiversity 

Transition the port away from coal exports to reduce global carbon emissions by: 

• Promoting the staged closure of coal exports from the Port of Newcastle by:
  • Ending the Carrington (T1) coal loader’s lease as soon as possible 
  • Establishing new uses for the port such as a rail-supported container terminal, shipping and assembly of renewable energy components such as wind turbines and batteries, a green hydrogen hub, and a grid-connected cruise terminal
  • Establishing national and state schemes to provide funds and other support to industries and workers affected by the transition to a clean economy
• Opposing new coal mines and gas fields

Protect and use our natural assets to improve the environment and promote leisure and tourism by:

• Removing shark nets from all of Newcastle’s beaches
• Supporting the development of local ecotourism based on the natural values of coastal and wetland reserves and supporting the continued operation of the Hunter Wetland Centre, Hunter Botanic Gardens, Blackbutt Reserve and other nature-based attractions
• Continuing to work with developers and Hunter Water to reduce urban stormwater run-off and improve water quality in local creeks through water-sensitive urban design

Adopted July 2024