Tag vandals cop a spray
GRAFFITI removal is costing ratepayers $250,000 every year with residents also forking out hundreds of dollars from their own pockets to remove unsightly vandalism.
Moolap business owner Debbie McKee, who recently relocated her business Moss Removals Treatment to Point Henry Rd, said she was one of many residents wanting to inject business into the region. But she said she was fed up with vandals constantly desecrating businesses and shopping strips with graffiti.
City of Greater Geelong director city services Guy Wilson Browne said the council spent about $250,000 a year cleaning graffiti from council buildings and assets.
The council also works closely with the Department of Justice to investigate ways to maximise the amount of graffiti it removes with its allocated funding.
On Anzac Day Day, Ms McKee’s CCTV cameras captured offenders emblazoning a large, freshly painted building wall with tags. Ms McKee said the vandalism, which occurred in the middle of the night, had infuriated members of the business community.
“We’ve had new people move into the area and we have invested significantly into the area. It is really coming along,” Ms McKee said.
“There has been investment from council and it is such a shame that people have a lack of respect.”
A Leopold Neighbourhood Watch spokesman said locals had been battling graffiti vandalism by removing it from local shops and buildings.
“It started because there was a whole string of shops that were graffitied. I decided to buy some removal chemicals and within three or four hours it was 50 per cent removed,” he said.
“Graffiti attracts more graffiti. They want their tag visible, so if it is removed and the they see us down here we hope they will stop.”
Geelong Mayor Bruce Harwood said graffiti devalued peoples’ properties.
He said the council had a policy to quickly remove graffiti from public property and in some cases helped owners of private property with graffiti removal.
“By removing it quickly we are sending a clear message that it is not tolerated,” Cr Harwood said.