By BEN CAMERON
IT’S the latest weapon in Cardinia Shire Council’s proactive war to target and eventually remove local graffiti hot spots in the region.
Council is expected to road test, weather permitting, a new form of anti-graffiti coating on community infrastructure in specific locations early this week, and if it’s successful, would call on government support in rolling it out shire-wide.
While council is reluctant to announce test locations just yet, testing will occur where the majority of money is being spent to remove tagging: Pakenham and Cockatoo.
Central ward councillor Jodie Owen said council would try all kinds of new methods in an attempt to reduce large amounts of ratepayers’ money being spent on tagging.
“It is my opinion that being pro-active we can save rate payers and tax payers money, whereby if we simply continue to be reactive, we will continue chasing our tails,” she said.
“The product is a coating which when applied, will make tagging easier to remove and not damage the surface in the process.
“We’re just waiting for some warmer weather over two days to get started.
“It is a Haymes product … every other product we have looked at costs around $20 to $30 per square metre and is usually US- based, whereby Haymes is just over $7 per square metre.
“It is an Australian product which is currently used by Ballarat City Council. So instead of chasing our tails, the belief is, if the trial is successful, we will be looking at using it to not only reduce tagging, but also save surfaces from shadowing and other damage which comes with removing it.”
She encouraged the community to report all tagging with photos.
City of Ballarat manager Facilities Chris Hutton said it had trialled a number of anti graffiti products to make removal easier.
“So far, in our experiences, there isn’t one single product that is appropriate for all situations. Often, it is easier not to treat the graffiti and just paint out as required, in most instances this is the quickest way to remove the graffiti and prevent reoccurrences.”
