War on graffiti

By Lia Bichel
A DAMAGED fence, rubbish, and graffiti are strewn along a section of a busy street in Hampton Park – and it has Casey residents up in arms.
The mess, which is at the end of a walkway and near a bus stop on the 90th block of Pound Road, needs to be cleaned up; former Casey councillor and anti-graffiti advocate Steve Beardon told the News.
“I thought the worst areas of Casey had been cleaned up, but I guess not. There is no way locals should have to put up with this filthy, stinking pig pen,” he said. “We all work hard to save a dollar, to improve our homes, gardens and respect our surroundings.
“I feel so sad for locals, having to live near this. You should be able to walk your dog, enjoy a social outing in our parks and see our neighbourhoods flourish into beautiful suburbs– not pig pens for pinhead vandals.”
River Gum Ward councillor Wayne Smith told the News he thought graffiti was a decreasing issue in Casey because the council acted quickly to remove it, but he urged residents to call the graffiti hotline when they saw any.
“If people call the graffiti hotline, it is removed within 48 hours,” he said.
“If it is on a government bodies’ land or someone else’s land, the council can’t remove it. But graffiti will be removed if it is visible from the road and on council or private property.”
Cr Smith said if the vandalism was not visible from the road, then it wasn’t a public issue; however, some exceptions could be made.
The graffiti hotline, 1800 VANDAL, or 1800 826 325 is a toll-free number but Mr Beardon said it should be more widely advertised and used.
“We need to report graffiti,” Mr Beardon said.
“It’s a gateway crime that often leads into more serious problems.”
City of Casey Manager of Community Safety Caroline Bell said graffiti was removed from the site following a complaint in May this year and would be removed again.
“While no further complaints had been received by the council, an inspection of the drain area was recently undertaken where graffiti was identified and subsequently reported to the council’s graffiti removal contractors for removal,” she said.
“The issue of rubbish has not been reported to the council; however, council officers have inspected the site and a clean-up has been arranged.”
Besides the graffiti hotline, Ms Bell said City of Casey had a graffiti education program for Grade 5 and 8 students in all of Casey, a Graffiti Prevention and Control of Aerosol Spray Paint Local Law No 3 which recognised that it was an offence to deface property, and graffiti removal kits which were supplied free to qualifying residents.