By Casey Neill
UPWEY’S graffiti problem needs urgent attention and a “zero-tolerance approach”, Dandenong Ranges Community Bank chairman Peter Marke said last week after vandals again defaced the town’s Main Street bank.
Mr Marke said he was “disgusted” and called for community diligence to beat the taggers.
“What is being done now is not working,” he said.
He urged people in Upwey to report any vandalism in progress or suspicious activity to police.
“Unless the police know about it they can’t do anything,” he said.
Mr Marke said the bank reported each incident and provided any video footage.
“But it is normally the last we hear about it,” he said.
“It must be as frustrating to the police as it is to us and I am sure other businesses in Upwey, that apprehension and/or prosecutions do not apparently follow too frequently.”
Mr Marke said the bank had spent a lot of money on graffiti removal over the years.
“Which impacts on our ability to return more of our profits to our communities, and other local businesses continue to suffer financially,” he said.
“I have no solution to the problem other than perhaps a zero-tolerance response and greater community awareness and diligence.”
Yarra Ranges crime prevention officer Leading Senior Constable Linda Hancock said there was already effectively a zero-tolerance approach to graffiti in the hills.
“We like to see it removed as soon as possible,” she said.
Leading Sen Const Hancock said Upwey’s location in a transport corridor attracted more tagging than some other areas.
“Large numbers of young people are travelling through. A couple of them cause problems,” she said.
She said graffiti victims fixing their own property would improve the situation.
“It’s always someone else’s problem,” she said.
“I wouldn’t expect someone else to come and fix my broken car window.”
Upwey Township Group co-secretary Andrew Fullagar regularly removes graffiti from the town. The group has a ute equipped with the necessary tools.
“It’s an ongoing problem. It’s not new,” he said.
“Comparatively our town is very good.”
Mr Fullagar said volunteers worked extremely hard to keep on top of the vandalism. He said removing it immediately served as a deterrent.
“There’s different views on whether zero-tolerance works or not,” he said.
Zero-tolerance can equate to an extra challenge for some vandals.
“You’ve got to be a little bit careful,” he said.
Streeton Ward councillor Noel Cliff said the town did “amazingly well” in its efforts to combat tagging.
“I don’t know that we can do any more,” he said.
“If we weren’t on a train line we wouldn’t get half the tagging we get.”
“What do you do? Do you stop people from coming into the town?”
Cr Cliff praised Upwey Township Group’s volunteer efforts, said all tagging was photographed and logged into a police database and security cameras were keeping an eye on vandals.
“These characters – no one knows when they’re going to strike,” he said.
“You can’t have people out there 24 hours a day.”
