A CONTRACTOR working for the Roads and Maritime Services Department (RMS) began the clean-up of shopping trolleys dumped into the Macleay River on Friday.
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Nineteen trolleys were removed on Friday, with the remainder to be removed on Tuesday August 5.
The trolleys had been thrown from the Kempsey railway footbridge into the shallow water, about 5m from the bank.
There are estimated to be about 30 trolleys dumped under the railway bridge and the Austral St boat ramp.
The contractor hauled some of the trolleys out of the water and into his small boat by hand, tying others to the side of the boat before taking them away to be disposed off.
The man, who usually has another man helping in the water, was working single-handed.
He struggled to snare some of the trolleys that were more than an arm's length under the water.
The abandoned trolleys have been an eyesore in the Macleay River for at least two years, with the pile at the Kemp St end of the bridge slowly growing.
The issue had been in the public eye for several weeks after young Kempsey visitor Amelie Nichols saw the pile of trolleys in the river while following one of the town's historical walks during the school holidays.
Amelie took a photo of the mess and wrote a letter to The Macleay Argus, published on July 15, saying they needed to be cleaned up as they were creating a bad impression of the town.
Argus reader Tim Jeffrey had offered to organise a clean-up after seeing the story in the paper but the RMS beat him too it.
The RMS was working with the council to establish a long-term strategy to deal with rubbish dumped in the river in general and the problem of shopping trolleys in particular.