Treating Toowoomba like trash

BILL Kelly spends several hours a week cleaning up the garbage people are too careless to dispose of properly.

Now the Highfields resident wants Toowoomba people to take ownership of their local areas by cleaning up the streets.

Mr Kelly volunteers his time across the Garden City, sweeping through the creeks and tourist areas to help beautify them.

“I’ve been all over Toowoomba – I’ve been up to the top of the Tabletop Mountain, along West Creek and East Creek,” he said.

“Toowoomba has a problem with litter – what I think is happening is when you start looking for (rubbish), you realise it’s everywhere.”

The main streets in Highfields are particularly bad, according to Mr Kelly, often filling a regular garbage bag within an hour.

“It’s mainly Highfields Rd and O’Briens Rd where the rubbish is,” he said.

“The bags take me an hour to fill up.

“I spend about six hours in the nine days (I have off work) picking up rubbish.

“I don’t want to live in a rubbish dump so by leading by example I want to clean up the area.

“Most people aren’t creating the problem, but there are people who are.”

Mr Kelly even started a Facebook group, Our War on Litter Waste, and hoped to start up an Adopt a Spot through the Toowoomba Regional Council with fellow residents.

“We need about 10 people to start a group and I’m aware of a few who are interested,” he said.

“The council didn’t create the problem – why should the problem lie with the council?”

To find out more information, search Our War on Litter Waste in Facebook.

PHOTOS: CONTRIBUTED WAR ON LITTER: Highfields resident Bill Kelly, with his wife Karen, spends his free time cleaning up his local area and key spots around Toowoomba. INSET: some of the rubbish he finds.