Acting Senior Sergeant
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By Melissa Grant
GRAFFITI has long proved an eyesore in Pakenham, but Cardinia Shire officers are finally winning the fight against the dreaded spraycan.
Targeted clean-ups in “graffiti hot spots” have lead to a 49.5 per cent reduction in graffiti around the shire.
But the war isn’t over and councillors will now focus on educating traders about graffiti removal in a bid to eradicate the problem.
The council will run a graffiti removal demonstration day this Saturday in a bid to minimise unsightly paint in Pakenham’s retail heartland.
Councillor Brett Owen said last year’s graffiti removal program had proved successful, but there was still much work to do.
“After the shire-wide graffiti clean up late last year and targeted efforts together with local police at hot spot locations, we have significantly reduced the amount of graffiti throughout the shire, particularly in the Pakenham township,” he said.
“(Now we need to) keep traders and residents aware of what the council has available to assist them in the removal of graffiti.”
Pakenham Business Group president Michael Porter said it was important that traders got behind the council’s initiative.
“We need business owners to recognise graffiti and take responsibility and remove graffiti from their premises,” he said.
“Statistics show the quicker you clean it up, the less likely they are (vandals) to re-offend.”
Cr Owen, a member of the Cardinia graffiti reference group, said the demonstration day would show people how to use the shire’s graffiti removal kits.
“The intention of the presentation is to demonstrate the use of the removal kits and to promote the need to ‘report, remove, reduce’ graffiti, so that in the event that new incidents occur in the Pakenham CBD, local traders are aware of the appropriate action to take,” Cr Owen said.
Graffiti removal kits include gloves, protective glasses, a brush and removal solution.
Free removal kits and paint vouchers are available upon application to the council. They can be collected from Hardy’s Mitre 10 in Pakenham, Mitre 10 Solutions in Emerald and Speight Hardware in Kooweerup.
Graffiti removal demonstrations will be held at the following locations on Saturday: 60 John Street, Pakenham (to meet outside the Cactus Black Store) at 11am, Shop 4/7 Princes Highway Beaconsfield (to meet on side of Bob Burgess Park) at 1pm and Murphy’s Way, Emerald (to meet outside the Commonwealth Bank) at 3pm.
