Bay volunteers join green team

Lee Cowan, Brooke and Amanda Hall and Jill Cowan got into action along the foreshore last year to help with the clean up which attracted more than 200 volunteers

File

THE hundreds of volunteers who helped out with the Chronicle-promoted Beautiful Bay Day last year, have been asked to join forces with other volunteers for Clean Up Australia Day on March 4.

Beautiful Bay Day focused on the Hervey Bay Esplanade and attracted more than 230 volunteers who helped council staff to remove weeds, rubbish and dead plant material.

This year volunteers will undertake the same kinds of tasks and help plant ground cover in some Esplanade gardens.

Fraser Coast Regional Council Community Environment Program officer Tina Raveneau will co-ordinate the Esplanade sites.

"Volunteers will be able to register for their chosen site through the Clean Up Australia Day website," she said.

To register, log on to cleanup. org.au and then click on the links to "Become a volunteer or join an existing clean up site", to find your site and register your details.

Clean Up Australia Day and Beautiful Bay Day celebrate our fantastic environment and highlight the work of the council's Community Environment Program in which groups of residents help maintain parks and natural areas, Fraser Coast mayor Mick Kruger said.

"The popularity of the CEP is growing across the Fraser Coast region with 18 groups already operating," he said.

"On the day residents will be able to find out about starting a CEP group or joining an existing group."

If you don't belong to a group or have not registered a site for Clean Up Australia Day, you can just turn up from 7am on Sunday, March 4, at Bill Fraser Park on the Esplanade in Hervey Bay.

After you have cleaned up your chosen spot, make sure you head to the council's base sites at Bill Fraser Park or Anzac Park to be treated to a free sausage sizzle as well as receive a ticket to go into the draw to win a flat-screen television, a stereo with iPod dock or a digital camera.

On the day all you should bring are gloves, water bottle, a hat, sturdy shoes, sunglasses and sunscreen.

For more information on how you can help clean up the Fraser Coast, contact the council's Clean Up Australia co-ordinator, Kate Brown or CEP officer Tina Raveneau on 1300 79 49 29.