Cockatoo resident Dot Griffin, pictured with Pakenham Police District Inspector John Stapleton, Senior Sergeant Alan McCarthy and La Trobe MP Jason Wood, welcomes a blitz on graffiti. 24175
By Tania Martin
CARDINIA Shire has joined Cockatoo residents in tackling graffiti head-on. The council recently kick-started a campaign to clean up the town and rid itself of unwanted graffiti.
This follows a shire-wide cleaning blitz, which aims to remove vandalism from more than 1000 community and privately owned sites.
Cockatoo residents last week joined local police, council representatives and La Trobe MP Jason Wood in welcoming the blitz.
For many in the town, the program has been a long time coming.
Township committee member Dot Griffin said graffiti and vandalism were affecting the entire community.
“So many volunteers and traders work hard to improve the area,” she said. “But when we see graffiti spoiling all that hard work, it’s heartbreaking.”
Mayor Bill Ronald said the clean-up was part of an ongoing eradication program to remove, report and reduce instances of “spray-can scourge’’.
Following the clean-up, council will roll out a number of initiatives that residents and businesses can undertake to help stop graffiti.
One of them will include free graffiti kits, which will be available to traders and residents to help remove the effects of vandalism.
Council and police are also calling for people to “dob in” vandals in an effort to get graffiti off the streets.
Residents wanting to report any graffiti should contact the council on 1300 787 624.
