‘Graffiti is a huge issue and the city is dirty and it feels unsafe’: Council Watch’s Dean Hurlston

Ugly graffiti around Melbourne remains for all to see during the Australian Open, giving the impression of a dirty, unsafe city, it’s claimed. The council has powers to clean up, so why isn’t it?

Melbourne’s CBD is again plagued with graffiti despite Lord Mayor Sally Capp’s promise to serve up a sparkling city for the Australian Open.

Tags have multiplied along city sites such as Evan Walker, Princes and Queens bridges as well as retaining walls along the Yarra.

The Herald Sun asked City of Melbourne a series of questions about the explosion of graffiti in the city and what Town Hall was doing about it but the council refused to respond.

The council has powers available to it right now under the Graffiti Prevention Act to remove tags form private property but Town Hall does not use them.

When asked why the council did not use the powers available to it, a spokeswoman said there was “nothing to add on this one”.

Graffiti is making Melbourne look dirty and unsafe, it’s claimed. Picture: Supplied

Graffiti on a retaining wall along the Yarra River. Picture: Supplied

Former lord mayoral candidate Arron Wood proposed using this power to clean up graffiti from private property through a system where building owners had to opt out of any clean up process rather than opt in – as is currently the case.

Southbank Residents Association president Tony Penna reported numerous graffiti hot spots to council recently in an effort to kick start clean up efforts.

“There’s a lot of graffiti around the city and even if it does get cleaned up, tags return to the same spot about a week later,” he said.

“The city is looking very run down and graffiti is a big part of the reason why.”

Mr Penna said the council should consider employing graffiti spotters to walk the municipality and find tags to report them to clean up crews.

“The issue is, are the (graffiti cleaners) simply doing what is reported to them or are they proactively looking for tags to remove,” he said.

“I think it is worth the City of Melbourne having a rethink on the processes they use to find and remove graffiti.”

Council Watch president Dean Hurlston said the City of Melbourne was not doing enough to keep the city clean.

Graffiti remains in public thoroughfares. Picture: supplied

A graffiti tag in Melbourne’s CBD. Picture: supplied

“Graffiti is a huge issue and the city is dirty and it feels unsafe,” he said.

“The council isn’t doing enough to keep the CBD clean and it is residents and businesses that are being let down by Town Hall.”

Mr Hurlston said it was concerning the City of Melbourne refused to comment on graffiti removal as it was a core function of local government.

“The dismissiveness and arrogance of the City of Melbourne is of great concern,” he said.

“If you can’t serve the people who pay your wages, what are you there for?”

Mr Hurlston said ratepayers were sick of local politicians who used spin and bluster to avoid hard questions.

“Denial seems to be the default setting for local government,” he said.

“If they can’t spin their way out of a situation they don’t seem interested in trying to solve it – Sally Capp is an expert at this. People are sick of politicians who can’t solve problems or answer questions.”