Since February 2007, Mr Dollin has made it his mission to clean up the land along the road, as well as a large area of reserve near Peel Parade. His labour of love has included mowing the lawns and removing weeds, lantana and blackberry bushes, in order to reclaim the park land.

East Kurrajong resident Kahren Rogers – who recently nominated Mr Dollin for the Citizen of the Month award - and her two sons Talun, 9, and Jesse Rogers-Fellowes, 6, often see him working on their way to school.

“We go down Comleroy Road every day,” Ms Rogers said. “For months, we used to see this guy.”

After regularly watching Mr Dollin hard at work, often out as early as 6am, they decided to find out who he was.

By asking around, Ms Rogers discovered he did the work of his own accord, without being paid or asked.

“I just found it astounding that he does this for no return,” she said.

“That to me is the essence of community spirit.”

Talun and Jesse were so impressed, they recently baked Mr Dollin a plate of cookies and stopped to meet him on their way to school.

Mr Dollin said he was shocked to learn he had been nominated, and was touched to know the community appreciated his effort.

“I was quite surprised and pleased,” he said.

When asked what motivated him to begin the mammoth task, Mr Dollin said simply “because there is so much traffic on the road, it’s good to have it looking really nice.”

He started by tidying up a small patch of land adjacent to a friend's property as a favour, and then began working his way up the road.

“It came up so nice, I decided to mow a little bit more,” he said.

Mr Dollin said people passing in cars often honked when they saw him, and school children on buses always offered a friendly wave.

“The community have been very helpful and supportive when they’re driving past – I appreciate their big waves,” he said. “It’s been a pleasure to be out there.”