Friends of Yass Gorge held a successful Clean Up Australia Day at Flat Rock Crossing on Sunday, March 4. The organisation thanked the volunteers on the day.

“We found many interesting things – mainly old bottles and cans – but also a fish skeleton and a traffic cone,” it said.

Ryl Parker, event coordinator, said the effort was welcomed after the flood two weekends ago.

“Thanks to everyone who helped after the flood, including the volunteers from today and the construction workers for their efforts over the past week,” Ms Parker said.

For at least two weeks, a pipeline has been under construction in the Yass River, near the town centre.

The construction requires building a trench that crosses the road, under the Yass River, and up the opposite hill.

The construction of the trench required moving large amounts of dirt and rock away from the river and adjacent grassland, and clearing vegetation from the side of the hill.

This exposed large areas of dirt. 

On Monday, February 26, Yass received 121mm in less than 24 hours.

The resulting flood washed the exposed dirt down the hill, off the grassy area, and into the river.

Sediment flowing into rivers has a bad impact and is well understood.

“When we heard about the construction work and the flood, we were concerned that our Clean Up Australia Day event in the Yass Gorge would have to be cancelled due to OH&S issues caused by the flood,” Ms Parker said.

“However, the construction workers did a good job cleaning up the mess – for example, moving sediment off paths, putting rocks back next to the river, which meant the area was safe enough for our volunteers to work there.”

Friends of Yass Gorge followed the cleanup with a discussion about the role companies play in contributing to rubbish and people's perception of how to deal with rubbish.

The volunteers ranged from children to retirees. 

The working bee was followed by a scrumptious lunch at the nearby park.

The working bee occurred on the same day as Yass's 181st birthday.

Ms Parker said there was still some tidying up to do once the pipeline has been constructed.

“We hope that once the area is tidied up, the river will be more accessible for the public to enjoy.

“We will be regularly planting locally native trees and shrubs in the newly cleared areas,” she said.

During the clean up, some of the group split off to plant some locally native trees and shrubs along the newly cleared area of the river.

As these plants grow, their roots will stabilise the soil, helping to reduce sedimentation flow into the river should another flood occur.

This working bee was coordinated by Ryl Parker on behalf of Friends of Yass Gorge, as part of the 'Being a Good Neighbour to the Yass Gorge' program.

This program has been assisted by the NSW Government through its Environmental Trust.