How graffiti scourge may cost Melbourne's inner-city residents
Graffiti vandalism has spiked during the coronavirus pandemic and now new council guidelines mean inner-city residents could have to dip into their own pockets to have it removed from their properties.
VIC News
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A plan to charge inner-city residents to have graffiti removed from their properties will be considered next week.
The City of Yarra, which includes the suburbs of Richmond, Burnley, Fitzroy, Collingwood and Clifton Hill, is looking at the move amid a spike in graffiti vandalism during the coronavirus pandemic.
Yarra currently does not send workers to remove graffiti on private properties outside “high prominence” zones. But it is now considering charging fees for extra services requested except for the frail and disabled.
The plans under consideration would see residents get two free annual call-outs before they are charged for extra ones. The council has also stopped removing graffiti from back laneways, arguing that resources are better used in areas where the scourge is much more visible.
The fees proposal is part of a new draft graffiti management plan for 2020-22, devised after trials in the municipality.
Clifton Hill resident Damien McNally said that early removal was the best way of preventing further graffiti.
“These new proposals will likely result in more graffiti remaining for longer periods of time on private and public property,” he said.
“Residents will be less inclined to pay out of their own pocket for removal of graffiti, especially as we pay some of the highest rates around.”
Fitzroy Residents’ Association chairman Martin Brennan said street art was an important part of local culture, but tagging was damaging public spaces.
“We are experiencing an increase in the amount of tagging, which may involve people with job and mental health issues screaming out to be identified during this pandemic,” he said.
The solution involved councils, businesses and residents all working together, he added.
Yarra mayor Misha Coleman said graffiti was a serious problem. “This is why our draft graffiti management framework is also focusing on prevention tactics, and supporting the community to remove graffiti from private property — with two free removals a year, free removal kits, and free paint vouchers,” she said.
“If graffiti is in any way offensive or significantly impacts public amenity, we will remove it as soon as possible from any premises.”
Cr Coleman said the council spent about $800,000 on removing 30,000 graffiti cases a year, just a fraction of the total.
“If we were to remove all instances, the cost would be unsustainable,” she said.
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