CITY OF HOBART
MEDIA RELEASE
Thursday 19 March 2015
ANTI-GRAFFITI MEASURES FOR
HOBART DISCUSSED AT ROUNDTABLE
The City of Hobart’s commitment to crack down on illegal and vandalistic graffiti took
a big step forward today with the highly successful staging of a Graffiti Roundtable,
with a strong focus in particular on opportunistic tagging or 'scribbling'.
The Lord Mayor of Hobart, Alderman Sue Hickey said the Roundtable had been an
excellent initiative to find an effective way to implement anti-graffiti measures in
Hobart.
“This kind of Graffiti vandalism is causing increasing concern throughout the City of
Hobart. Unsolicited and unapproved Graffiti or tagging is an act of vandalism that
damages community pride and puts an unnecessary burden on ratepayers,” said the
Lord Mayor.
The Deputy Lord Mayor, Alderman Ron Christie who chaired the Round table said
today’s meeting was a very productive session on what positive strategies could be
engaged to help address the problem now and into future.
“We are serious about this issue and the concerns unsolicited and unapproved
Graffiti causes and will be doing something about it,” Ald Christie said.
Ald Christie emphasised that a distinction needed to be made between illegal Graffiti
vandalism, in particular tagging or 'scribbling' and that of urban Graffiti art.
“There needs to be a proper and holistic approach that recognises the value and
quality of appropriate Graffiti or street art as compared to the vandalism of
unapproved Graffiti,” said Ald Christie.
The Roundtable comprised representatives from Tasmania Police, the State
Government, private property owners, businesses and the street art community.
The Roundtable representatives at today’s meeting discussed their roles in the future
direction of Hobart’s move to address issues associated with illegal tagging and
‘scribbling’ style of Graffiti and shared information on best practice interventions.
The Roundtable endorsed the progression of a number of priority short term
measures including:
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Improve lighting and installing motion-activated CCTV in key impacted
laneways.
Encouraging the local community and businesses to help address issues
associated with unsolicited and unapproved Graffiti.
Commence immediate planning and partnering with local businesses to
establish designated art walls and zones, recognising the difference between
legitimate Graffiti art and Graffiti vandalism.
A number of more medium term treatments were also endorsed, including:
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Improving and expanding education programs in schools.
Alternative on-line reporting tools for the community to report Graffiti
vandalism.
Greater engagement with offenders through existing Tasmania Police
remedial programs.
Make it easier for business owners who want to initiate a legal street art wall
to move through Council processes.
Ongoing activation programs to increase general public utilisation of the City’s
laneways and under-utilised spaces.
The City of Hobart will continue to liaise with Roundtable participants as it prepares
an urgent report on this issue for Council consideration.
ENDS
For interview:
Alderman Sue Hickey, Lord Mayor – 0427 351 987
Alderman Ron Christie, Deputy Lord Mayor – 0414 444 414
Media enquiries:
Kerry Baker, Principal Advisor Media and Community Relations – 0437 775 484