Larry Daniela may be the region's first rogue gardener.
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Like superheroes before him, Mr Daniela works in the shadow of darkness, pulling weeds, laying mulch and straightening street signs, desperately trying to beautify the Illawarra's gardens.
The Mount Ousley resident has been focused on tidying up the region's roadside entry points, including the Mount Ousley Road turn-off to Mount Pleasant and the exit ramp to Fairy Meadow.
As a keen advocate for tourism, Mr Daniela said he couldn't promote the region in its current shabby state.
Instead of complaining about the ragged roadside, mounds of lantana and unkempt garden beds, he donned his gardening gear and started doing the work himself.
"I noticed it was very overgrown so I just wanted to try and give it a better look," Mr Daniela said.
"At the end of the day, I live here, this is my home and I want to feel proud of it - at the moment, I'm embarrassed when I'm driving along the roads and that's not how it should be."
But his guerilla gardening could come with a price - and it's not just the 4am wake-up calls. Mr Daniela risks landing in hot water for tampering with public land.
He said he wasn't deterred by the potential punishment.
"I'm very aware of the fact that at some point someone could come and try to stop me and I could end up in court, but I'm prepared for that to happen," he said.
"I shudder to think of the response to me getting a fine for simply trying to clean up the town. I just want it to be better, I just have to look at the end product."
Mr Daniela said he would love to see Wollongong City Council and Roads and Maritime Services devise a long-term strategy for the regular upkeep of the roadside.
"It needs to be more than just a band-aid solution," he said.
"There needs to be a plan in place to stop the weeds from growing back and for regular maintenance."