General News
3 September, 2025
Keeping Big Hill beautiful
A sincere love of the unique panoramic scenes from Stawell’s Big Hill lookout is what keep Diane Raeburn motivated to head up the hill each morning to pick up rubbish.
The iconic landmark is one of Stawell’s primary tourist spots where visitors snap photos and appreciate the unique landscape of the surrounding region, which is why Diane dons a pair of gloves and collects waste that people have left behind to ensure visitors don’t get the impression of a dumping ground when they visit the lookout.
Diane has been cleaning up the hill for over a decade, with her ritual starting back in 2014 when a community backlash ensured the preservation of the Big Hill Lookout after a proposal to establish an open cut mine at the site was quashed.
Not one to seek fanfare, Diane modestly said that she is simply trying to contribute to her community, and she hoped others would be mindful when it comes to rubbish and waste, and suggested Stawell should be striving to win things like the well- known Tidy Towns Awards.
“I personally think we should bring back the Keep Australia Beautiful campaign because people are just so lazy, they won’t even walk to the rubbish bin to put their rubbish in, Diane said.
“I figure there’s so many tourists that come here, I wouldn’t like them to see rubbish everywhere.”
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