COUNCIL has made a $120,000 bid to bolster Redhead Beach against future severe storms like those that devastated the Hunter's coastline earlier this year.
A boardwalk, dune protection and formation fencing are the first steps in a three-stage plan to rehabilitate and stabilise the shore.
The works took about three months, a Lake Macquarie City Council (LMCC) spokeswoman said, including a 60m boardwalk made from recycled plastic.
"Stages two and three will be completed over the next two years and will involve re-vegetating the dunes with native species and weed management to increase dune stability and biodiversity," she said.
"Council has also applied for disaster relief funding to undertake works in July 2023 to realign First Creek to the south, mitigating erosion impacts on the emergency access ramp and neighbouring dune system.
"Proposed works will include activities to reinstate the dune front to the north of First Creek and enhance coastal resilience of the dunes at Redhead Beach."
The three-year works program has been funded by both the council and Department of Planning and Environment's Coastal and Estuary Grant Scheme.
The rehabilitation comes after Redhead, along with a number of Hunter beaches, were hammered with huge waves during severe storms in April.
The council estimated it could take about two years for the sand to return on its own, arguing a "huge and impractical" amount of sand would be needed to return it to pre-storm levels.
Cost aside, the council said at the time it still ran the risk of losing whatever it replaced in another storm event.
Redhead Beach copped the worst of the weather in the area, where huge swells pounded the clubhouse, washing away a wheelchair access ramp and damaging the kiosk doors.
Other patrolled beaches in the area didn't escape unscathed, but are better protected.
The council has tried to fix the rock revetment in front of Redhead's Surf Life Saving Club, which is designed to protect it from erosion.
Recently, it moved about 250 tonnes of sand from the northern beaches access track to the northern part of the rock embankment.
