Council ramps up graffiti blitz

The City of Melbourne has pledged “faster graffiti removal” than ever before, with its Rapid Response Clean Team now proactively patrolling graffiti hotspots in neighbourhoods outside the CBD and Docklands for the first time. 

At their October 18 Future Melbourne Committee (FMC) meeting, councillors unanimously endorsed a series of recommendations from council management, which provided an update on the Clean Melbourne Graffiti Blitz while advising “next steps”. 

Since the blitz began in the Hoddle Grid in March then completed by June 30, the council worked in partnership with various state government agencies and private asset owners including Telstra, Australia Post and CitiPower. 

As part of the program, the council called on businesses and property owners to help remove graffiti from their buildings and assets, while encouraging residents and visitors to report it using QR codes located around the city. 

The report from management stated that during the blitz, more than 68,000 sqms of graffiti were removed across 17,600 locations, equivalent to more than three Melbourne Cricket Ground surface areas cleaned and representing a 140 per cent increase compared to the four months preceding the blitz. 

The council noted the success of the introduction of the QR code reporting system, which it says has seen residents play a “greater role” in reporting graffiti with a 60 per cent rise in reporting recorded between March and June.

The council said the “success of the program has allowed council to double down on its efforts and allocate resourcing more effectively, determining the optimal service levels required for each neighbourhood”, while also helping to identify “hot spots”. 

In Docklands, this includes a significant area bordered by Latrobe St, Spencer St, Collins St and Harbour Esplanade.

On October 18, councillors requested that management implement the “enhanced Graffiti Prevention and Management Plan”, which calls for faster graffiti removal, hot-spot management, continued stakeholder partnerships, youth engagement and making public reporting of graffiti easier. •