AS the second Tidy Up Taree day nears, organiser Graham Brown is expanding his focus to other areas of the community, particularly community assets.
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Graham is urging businesses and individual business people to join him in adopting a public asset, whether it be financially or through their own hard work.
After learning of the Friends of Browns Creek (FOBC) group and witnessing the transformation of the creek since the group has been working on it, Graham decided to help FOBC to continue to rejuvenate the area.
"I decided to 'adopt' Browns Creek for two reasons," explained Graham.
"The first reason was that I was so impressed when I was shown what FOBC were doing down there and the second was because I thought it was only natural that the Browns should adopt Browns Creek," he laughed.
The adoption means that Friends of Browns Creek will receive $3000 a year for five years from Graham. Chairperson of the group, Tammy Whyte says it will be a great help.
"We had no idea it was coming, it's really great," she said.
"We've got a few things planned for the year ahead, we're hoping to clear through to Cornwall Street so that canoes and kayaks can get down there.
"There's lots in the pipeline though and this will be a really big help to us to be able to keep going."
Browns Creek used to be a dumping site for rubbish, trolleys and other waste but since the group has been working to restore the area and bring up to its natural beauty, other members of the community have noticed the transformation and amazingly the site has been maintained, with little to no rubbish being dumped there now.
"We've seen the flow-on effect, other people are noticing how lovely it is and they're enjoying it and taking pride in the area now," said Tammy.
Graham admits he wasn't aware of just how long the creek was, or of the extent of the work being done there.
"I went to the open day in November and I was blown away by it," he said.
"I have a vision of the creek being a real tourist attraction, where people take their canoes, boats and kayaks with story boards of Taree's history set up along the way.
"I'm urging other people to come on board and adopt their own public asset. The more people that clean up their own little bit of bush or their own area, the better.
"Every bit will make a difference and we've seen that here.
"It changes the way we see things but it also changes the way other people see things."
Friends of Browns Creek now has 52 financial members and they're always looking for more help.
But Graham isn't stopping there.
He and son Kyle are calling on the local real estate agents to come on board the 'tidy train' and adopt a roundabout each.
"Kyle thought it would be a great idea. We know that real estate agents are competitive so what better way to pit one against the other than for the better of the town," explained Graham.
"They could compete for the best transformation, plant their business name in flowers on there, there's endless possibilities."
The second Tidy Up Taree will be held on March 2 in conjunction with Clean Up Australia Day.