TAMWORTHIANS got their hands dirty yesterday in the name of Clean Up Australia Day, but were pleasantly surprised by how little rubbish there was.
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![CLEANEST CLEAN UP: Michelle Wong, Jasimin Lee, Julie Clancy, Stephanie Cameron, Jean Coady, and Gavril Tan in front, had to scour the area for rubbish. Photo: Gareth Gardner 020214GGC03 CLEANEST CLEAN UP: Michelle Wong, Jasimin Lee, Julie Clancy, Stephanie Cameron, Jean Coady, and Gavril Tan in front, had to scour the area for rubbish. Photo: Gareth Gardner 020214GGC03](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/storypad-7YjsyXB7ExBTuzGHT3fj6J/57f97ea5-38b3-40f2-943d-21243257a20d.jpg/r429_0_3682_1925_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The Tamworth Urban Landcare Group members were joined by about 20 volunteers who scoured the banks of the Peel River between the Gipps St footbridge and Jewry St bridge and Hands of Fame Park to gather up about 600kg of rubbish.
The group’s Steph- anie Cameron said the day went really well, but the highlight was that there was less rubbish than there had ever been.
“This year is the cleanest we’ve ever found it so we were quite impressed,” she said.
“We had to scavenge far afield to fill up our bags. We really struggled. I take that an indication that people are a bit more caring of their environment than they were in the past.
“In other years we would only make it a block each way, and we would have to go back and get more bags. I was impressed with the state of the footpaths, but we mostly had bottles and plastic bags.
“The plastic bags are disappointing along the river and the bottles on the sports fields – if they could pick it up and take it with them, that would be great.”
The group was joined by members of Galala Landcare Group who pulled trolleys out the river.
The next big event for Tamworth Urban Landcare Group is a family tree planting day on March 16 from 9am to 12pm on the riverside behind the skate park on Peel St.