Greens Wollongong councillor Cath Blakey is calling for a halt to sand dune reshaping work at Port Kembla until the council's strategy can be evaluated.
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That comes after wild wind and big swells deposited sand in front of the Port Kembla Surf Life Saving Club.
The council started moving sand from mid-May to improve access and safety for lifesaving equipment.
In April, Wollongong City Council awarded the $114,000 tender to Stefanutti Construction Pty Ltd to carry out dune re-profiling works to lower the dune and will plant low growing vegetation to help stabilise the sand.
Cr Blakey said she wanted to see whether the dune stablisiation process at other Wollongong beaches had worked before the council spent more resources.
"Removing vegetation doesn't solve the sand problem," she said. "Beaches are dynamic and the ocean deposits and removes sand. Vegetation helps to stabilise the dune.
"If there is a big dry wind then the sand is more easily picked up and moved. It was quite predictable the sand would be returned to where the council moved it from.
"It is costly to intervene with the natural dune and we keep throwing money at it. We should only do the works if they are necessary.
"Obviously the works need to be done to clear the surf club's door but the rest of the work should be stopped."
Port Kembla resident Jess Whittaker wants the surf club to be able to access its equipment but the weather meant the sand would keep accumulating in front of it so she would rather see the council spend the money on a long-term solution.
She said council's work had also unlocked a lot of plastic from the dune which had not been adequately cleaned by staff.
Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said maintaining the beaches was part of living with a coastal geography.
"We have had problems with sand and wind this week all up and down the coast," he said.
"All our assets need to be maintained for safety and protection reasons, not least our beaches and ocean pools, because people expect to use them and access them.
"Also we need to protect our buildings and in the case of Port Kembla pool, road and the beach assess point.
"This is about risk mitigation. If we continue to put assets on the coast and impede natural sand movement then we don't have many options.
"Occasionally the forces of nature make maintenance doubly hard but we don't just walk away.
"I'm continually getting requests for ocean pools and beaches to be cleared of weed which is no reason not to respond or consider reshaping the beach.
"Big winds and seas, gouging and berms are frequent at this time of the year. It's all part of the deal."
The work is still expected to take about eight weeks dependent on weather.
These works are part of Council's 'Dune Management Strategy for the Patrolled Swimming Areas of 17 Beaches', which outlines options to make patrolled areas safer and improve access and recreational amenity.
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