'It's more than just a beach': sands of time run out…

'It's more than just a beach': sands of time run out for Stockton

Forgotten people in a fast disappearing landscape.

Their way of life destroyed, possibly forever.

Standing on the edge of Stockton beach on Tuesday, looking at the sheer drop to the water on a coastline crippled by erosion, Tom Wynn struggled to hide his emotions.

In 1993 the retired Stockton school teacher was standing in the exact same spot where sand once covered a "good 500 metre walk to the water".

A moment captured in time 26 years ago, impossible to recreate because the beach has disappeared.

The 61-year-old, who has lived in Stockton for 40 years, said there was a sense of "great sadness that part of where we live has now been taken away".

"It's more than sad, it's a soul destroying feeling because we're too small to do anything about it," he said.

VANISHING ACT: A photograph taken by Tom Wynn of Stockton beach in 1993 and Mr Wynn at the same location on Tuesday.

"We need a big state government plan to help us. We're just individually watching it all wash away and it's hard to even put that into words. It's very distressing."

Mr Wynn's wife, Elizabeth, whose family has lived in Stockton for seven generations, said she used to boast to friends overseas about how "we have 26 miles of beach on our doorstep".

"It's one of the best beaches in the world," she said. "Well it used to be."

Mr Wynn, a keen historian, was doing his version of a family "time capsule" in 1993.

With a super eight movie camera in one hand, and still camera in the other, he walked from his home in Douglas St to the beach, shooting the scenery along the way.

A photograph taken at the beach shows rolling dunes and a pathway to the water off in the distance.

It's a snapshot in time that reveals the desperate state of Stockton's ailing coastline.

Grainy video footage shows the wide expanse of the beach and vegetation that people used to trek over to get to the water. People stroll along the beach and swimmers are off in the distance.

Mrs Wynn, who used to walk the beach regularly, said it was impossible now.

The worst erosion event in 20 years, that saw 2.5 metres in sand height lost in five hours, forced to closure of the beach last week.

Earlier this month the suburb's only childcare facility was forced to abruptly close due to fears the building was going to wash away.

Families were left with the option of bussing their toddlers 30 minutes each way to Beresfield or finding another childcare facility.

Mrs Wynn said it was impossible to explain what had been lost with the beach. "The school kids used to do nature walks along the beach as part of their educational activities," she said.

"They can't go anywhere near the beach now because it's considered too dangerous. It's more than just a beach to us. It's a beautiful place and I wouldn't want to live anywhere else, but we need help."

A community meeting for people concerned about the beach will be held at Stockton Surf Life Saving Club on Thursday from 5pm.

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