Dubbo: Community cleans up Delroy Park

Local volunteers band together to clean up and catch carp to reintroduce fish populations. Here’s the latest.

Dubbo locals volunteering their time to help clean up Delroy to introduce new species into the pond.

Plastic bags, shopping trolleys and syringes make up some of the trash that is dumped at Delroy Park in Dubbo - volunteers are coming together to help preserve the environment.

Inland Waterways OzFish member Matt Hanson influenced a crowd of up to 30 volunteers to help him clean up the local area in west Dubbo to eventually release fingerlings back into the community.

Having success in clean up gatherings by the Macquarie River, Mr Hanson is looking forward to pursuing the Delroy Park project to enable the growth of endangered species.

The trash collected from the pond at Delroy Park.

The trash collected from the pond at Delroy Park.

The trash collected from the pond at Delroy Park.

Hoping to release olive perchlet with the NSW Department of Primary Industries soon, Mr Hanson said the Delroy area was an “ideal location” as there is plenty of opportunity for them to “breed, feed and hide”.

“It’ll become an ideal little habitat for those guys,” he said.

Local OzFish repair bus team leader Sean Graham set up a net in Delroy Park, catching 252 carp.

“Lots of people from Inland Waterways, fishing clubs, DPI, locals and people from Central West Leadership Academy showed up to help - it was amazing how everyone came together to help,” Mr Graham said.

Having plants from other projects, Mr Graham also planted 200 native plants around the pond to “help benefit the fish”.

Dubbo locals volunteering their time to help clean up Delroy to introduce new species into the pond.

“We wanted to make it look prettier,” he said.

“We’re going to do follow up clean ups to follow this one as it was a success.”

“When people drive by and see other people cleaning up - it’s really a community driven thing.

“It shows that your average Australian really cares about their land and their water.”

Mr Graham hopes the message can spread throughout the local community to get more people to pick up litter in their daily routines.