Council starts cleaning blitz to remove graffiti

By Katie Johnson

Unsightly graffiti and tagging in Southbank will be removed from shopfronts, bridges and building facades under a new City of Melbourne initiative.

Using some of the $100 million Melbourne City Recovery fund, the council will focus on removing graffiti in high places that would normally be out of reach.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the cleaning blitz would ensure Melbourne was sparkling clean for workers returning to the city.

“Unwanted graffiti and tagging is a blight on the city. We can now literally go above and beyond to remove graffiti from hard to reach places,” the Lord Mayor said.

“The significant cost of hiring elevated working platforms means that the removal of graffiti from heights above three to four metres is cost-prohibitive.”

“This joint funding means we are able to contract two additional staff and hire the necessary equipment to remove graffiti from heights, including above shop awnings, bridges and on the sides and facades of buildings.”

So far the council has identified Swanston, Elizabeth, Bourke, Little Bourke and Russell streets as priority areas for cleaning and will be adding more destinations over the next six months.

Carlton will also be a major focus for the council initiative as more people return to Lygon St.

Southbank resident Lachy Christie said that there had been a marked increase of graffiti and tagging on the side of apartment buildings along Whiteman St.

“Good graffiti can be really nice, like in Hosier Lane where there is real street art,” Mr Christie said.

“But nonsensical tags that you can barely read, either from terrible handwriting or a lack of creative talent is just frustrating.”

Another Southbank resident Athena Zouki said there was “almost always” graffiti on the side of her building on Clarendon St.

“If it was proper graffiti like from back in the days along the train lines then I wouldn’t mind so much, but it’s just trashy tags,” Ms Zouki said.

Graffiti removal services for tagging at street level will be boosted between now and the end of June 2021 as part of the program.

The council has hired two additional graffiti management vehicles and two more contract staff to proactively control and clean the areas on a daily rather than weekly basis.

The recovery fund will also be put towards additional waste services, including more hard waste collections for businesses and residents, deep street cleaning, additional cleaning of outdoor dining parklets and increased dumped rubbish removal.

Currently the CoM invests almost $1 million on graffiti removal annually and removes around 50,000 sqm, or more than two MCGs worth of graffiti from private and public spaces, every year.

Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the new initiative would ensure Melbourne was cleaner than ever.

“Our community has been clear that graffiti removal is important to them and they want more action taken to address tagging across the municipality,” she said.

“So together with the Victorian Government we are responding with a six-month cleaning blitz which will see our city sparkle again as we welcome workers and visitors back.” •