The campaign to spruce up Mt Keira lookout moved forward yesterday as dozens of volunteers gave up their time to start a much-needed clean-up at the beloved tourist spot.
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Nearly 200 people got their hands dirty during a four-hour working bee, pulling weeds, removing dead wood and painting, in an effort to redeem the dilapidated site.
Mt Keira lookout action group representative Leigh Stewart was thrilled with the community's support, deeming the day a success, but acknowledged there was more work to be done.
"People have done a fantastic job but we need 100 similar working bees to get all the work done," he said.
"We've got a massive pile of debris after today's efforts and we've cleared [a lot] so you can actually see the view again; there was a lot of work done but there's still numerous acres that are overgrown and need to be cleared."
Mr Stewart conceded yesterday's hands-on work, overseen by the Wollongong Botanic Gardens team, was a short-term fix, recognising the summit park was plagued by several intrinsic issues.
He said there was still no power or drinking water at the site and the road to the summit park remained closed.
The action group has sought funding from the state government and has also been liaising with the National Parks and Wildlife Service to determine who is responsible for the land.
"It's like the summit park is the hair on the head but the rest of the body is controlled by National Parks or the water catchment body, there is a lot of bureaucratic red tape," Mr Stewart said.
"The Botanic Gardens team are mulching and trimming and are planning to have regular community working bees so that's a point we're really pushing with National Parks."
Mr Stewart was also keen to see the demolition of the site's former cafe.
The next working bee is on the first weekend in May.
