Well-known Dubbo angler Matt Hansen has called on the people of the city to look after the Macquarie River.
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Recent rain events have resulted in tonnes of rubbish being washed downstream, not only polluting the Dubbo section of the iconic waterway but also down at Narromine and into the Macquarie Marshes.
It has been 11 months since Mr Hansen led a community clean-up of the river which saw tonnes of junk removed.
But after seeing what he described as a ‘flotilla of rubbish’ estimated at 100m flowing down the river this week, he believes more needs to be done.
“People’s attitudes need to change,” Mr Hansen said.
“Not only are people having parties down by the river and leaving their junk down there, but it is also general waste that people chuck on footpaths or roads that washes down the storm water drains.
“We have an exceptional case here. They would be up in arms in a place like Bathurst if they saw what I saw earlier in the week.
“Our basic plumbing infrastructure in the river is terrible. About 50 per cent of drains have gross pollutant traps and that number needs to increase to try and catch rubbish before it has a chance to go any further.
“After seeing the 100m flotilla of rubbish earlier this week I just sat back and wondered how much must have made its way down to the Marshes over the past 50 years or so.”
Mr Hansen posted photos and videos on his Facebook page in an attempt to make people aware of the crisis that has arisen in the river. He said he had been heartened by the response.
“Nearly 16,000 people watched, liked or shared the video so hopefully we’ve started getting the message out there.”
The community was outraged over the amount of rubbish found last and called for action.