Not many Australian suburbs can boast about having a waterfall and platypus habitat among its residential streets, but Glenorchy north of Hobart can.
Emma Jane's interest in the area peaked after seeing a social media post about the waterfall that can be found in Humphrey's Rivulet at the top end of Chapel Street.
She went to check it out and stumbled upon a rare sight.
"Pete is this little platypus, well I'm guessing it's a boy," she told Helen Shield on ABC Radio Hobart.
Ms Jane was thrilled to spot the shy monotreme in the rivulet, but she was also disgusted by what else she saw in and around the water.
"Tyres, fence palings, litter, an oil drum, a bike," she said.
"Gosh, who knows what else is on the bottom of that pool?"
The area around the waterfall shows signs of its past; it has been used as a recreational area.
But now overgrown stone steps lead to crumbling wooden picnic tables.
"It's definitely something that might have been enjoyed at one point," said Karoline Kent, a friend of Ms Jane.
"But we can clearly see that it's just been left to ruin."
Ms Jane and Ms Kent set up a Facebook group to try to gather community support to help clean rubbish out of the rivulet.
"We've got a clean-up on the weekend with just a couple of people," Ms Jane said.
"We're keeping it small out of respect for the platypus, to try and have a minimal effect on him or her."
They have also contacted the City of Glenorchy Council seeking help.
"It's not too far from the tip here, so potentially people might want to avoid paying tip fees so they come the extra minute or two up the road and just dump stuff here," Ms Kent said.
"It's a letdown on behalf of the community."
The women hope with support from local, state and federal politicians they can get people respecting the spot again.
"It's like going to someone's house and leaving rubbish there; you wouldn't do that to a friend," Ms Kent said.
"If we can get an ongoing clean-up system, then hopefully that will encourage some respect, even if they just put a bin out here and there's a regular collection of some kind."
