Next time you’re crossing the old stone bridge on Thornton Street on foot, look down into the bed of Second Creek and consider the ‘trash rack’.
It’s part of a network of some 20 sites across metro Adelaide, all owned and maintained by Green Adelaide. Data from the last 7 years show between 5 and 25 tonnes of debris is caught and removed each year from the Thornton Street rack. In the year ending June 2025, over 10 tonnes of material was removed from Adelaide’s waterways at this key location, right here in Kensington.
A site inspection occurs when 7mm of rain falls in 24 hours or 10mm of rain falls over a 7 day period. Without a rainfall trigger, sites are routinely checked every 21 days. Cleans are scheduled as needed.
The Rack Phone rings! Who answers the call? Never fear, residents of Kensington, Mechanical Vegetation Solutions will soon be here! These dedicated contractors appear from nowhere, clean up the neighbourhood, then zap off to fight trash elsewhere, a bit like the comic book super heroes of old. Check out the Tale of the Trash Rack Heroes.
