Elouera beach after an increasing number of erosion events in recent years. Picture by John Veage

Sutherland Shire Council will investigate a one-off, large-scale beach nourishment initiative using sand located offshore from Cape Banks to Cape Solander.

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The council has formally engaged with the NSW Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos regarding the status of an exploration licence for the area, which expires on July 2, and expressed interest in the potential future use of offshore sand resources.

A meeting held in February 2026 confirmed, at that time, no licence renewal application had been lodged.

The Leader January 14, 2026 report on the proposed offshore sand proposal.

Community group C Care (Cronulla Coastal Areas Regeneration Effort), which collected 1000 signatures on a petition calling for action on beach erosion, proposed the use of offshore sand in late 2025.

The council decided at its meeting on Monday May 18 to investigate the offshore sand source among other options to counter increasing erosion events on Bate Bay beaches.

An amendment moved by Cr Carmelo Pesce to scrap the idea of accessing offshore sand because of environmental impacts, received only two votes.

Erosion at North Cronulla after big seas in June 2024. Picture by John Veage

The other options to be investigated by the council include:

• Port Hacking Navigational Channels - Review of historical dredging volumes and assessment of opportunities to expand the scope of dredging activities to support future sand nourishment requirements.
• Port Hacking Shoals - These shoals contribute to the infilling of the Port Hacking navigation channels and therefore represent a potentially compatible sand source, given their similarity to material dredged from the navigation channels.
• Northern end of Bate Bay - Investigating whether sand transported from the southern beaches can be collected and recycled to support beach nourishment.

A staff report said "the increasing frequency and intensity of storm events, combined with natural coastal processes, are placing sustained and increasing pressure on Bate Bay beaches".

"Community advocacy and Council observations highlight ongoing changes to beach condition, public safety, and recreational amenity," the report said.

"Observations from Council [have] noted changes in sand types, dune size, steeper beach profiles, increased frequency and severity of erosion and uneven sand distribution.

"Similar impacts have been observed along the east coast of Australia..."

C Care co-founder Anthony Hurst said the council was "on a steep learning curve with the potential to use offshore sand to replenish Cronulla's beaches, but it's great to see that a large majority of councillors are up for the challenge."

Mr Hurst said, coincidentally, a key milestone had been reached in a planned similar exercise on Stockton Beach in Newcastle, where a Review of Environmental Factors had been completed.

"Councils and communities are looking for more natural / 'soft' engineering options to maintain beaches, rather than building 'hard' engineering options such as sea walls," he said.

"From a technical viewpoint, exploration for offshore sand and potentially extraction is relatively straightforward and less expensive compared to exploration and extraction of other minerals onshore or offshore, in large part because the sand is located on the surface of the sea floor."

Mr Hurst said, with the current exploration licence for the area off Cape Banks about to expire, "there are a few scenarios that could play out over the coming weeks, depending firstly on whether or not the current licensee applies to renew the licence".

"If they don't, then the NSW Government could 'reserve' the whole area for the future. If the licensee does apply for licence renewal, then they must surrender 50 per cent of the current licence area, which in turn could be reserved," he said.

"Either way, there's an opportunity to secure public tenure over some of all of the offshore and resource."

C-Care co-founder Paul Staddon said the group was grateful for the council support, and thanked Cr Kal Glanznig and mayor Jack Boyd for speaking against the proposed amendment.