Townsville City Council will have two dedicated painters to clean up graffiti across the city.
It was one of the changes made in the updated Public Graffiti Management Policy adopted at December’s Ordinary Council Meeting.
Graffiti clean-up costs have increased by more than 34 per cent over the previous year and has so far cost Council $94,000 this year.
Community Health, Safety and Environmental Sustainability Committee chairperson Maurie Soars said Council would dedicate more resources to stamping out graffiti in the city.
“We have two dedicated Council team members employed to clean up reported illegal graffiti,” Cr Soars said.
“Graffiti is a visual crime which can promote a sense of disorder in the community and detracts from the city’s aesthetics.
“One of the best ways to deter illegal graffiti is to remove it as quickly as possible.
“By having dedicated graffiti removal officers in Council we can remove illegal graffiti as quickly as possible.
“As part of the updated policy any offensive graffiti will be removed within 24 hours, three days for highly visible sites and five days for all other graffiti.
“Under changes to the policy, Council will now be able to remove graffiti on private property boundaries and publicly owned infrastructure to give Council the authority to remove graffiti from assets not owned by Council.”
To address graffiti in Townsville, Council released its Graffiti Action Plan 2021-2024 two years ago.
One of the recommendations was to make graffiti removal kits free for property owners to remove graffiti themselves.
Cr Soars said the kits would now be made available to more people.
“These kits will now be available free of charge for renters as well as property owners and we are encouraging them to take on the initiatives to remove the graffiti around their homes,” he said.
“The kits contain cleaning products, paint, gloves, masks, scrubbing brushes and bucket to help with cleaning.”
To learn more about graffiti in Townsville and how to get a free removal kit, visit Council’s Safe Places page.
