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                    City of Melbourne taking graffiti removal to new heights

                    Media release, Sunday 31 January 2021
                    Eyesore graffiti and tagging will be removed from high areas including building facades, shop awnings and bridges in a city cleaning blitz starting from next month.

                    ​The Victorian Government and City of Melbourne's joint funding program is providing a six-month cleaning blitz to welcome people back to the city, support city businesses and creating jobs.

                    Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the $100 million Melbourne City Recovery Fund will provide increased resources for graffiti cleaning and fund a new program to remove graffiti from high areas.   

                    "Unwanted graffiti and tagging is a blight on the city. We can now literally go above and beyond to remove graffiti from hard to reach places," the Lord Mayor said.

                    "The significant cost of hiring elevated working platforms means that the removal of graffiti from heights above three to four metres is cost prohibitive. This joint funding means we are able to contract two additional staff and hire the necessary equipment to remove graffiti from heights, including above shop awnings, bridges and on the sides and facades of buildings.

                    "We've already identified priority areas for cleaning at height along Swanston, Elizabeth, Bourke, Little Bourke and Russell Streets and we'll be adding to the list over the next six months."

                    Graffiti removal services for tagging at street level will be boosted between now and the end of June 2021, as part of the program.  

                    "Our priority areas are the central city and major shopping strips such as Lygon Street," the Lord Mayor said.

                    "With the joint funding we're able to hire two additional graffiti management vehicles and two additional contract staff to proactively patrol and clean these areas on a daily, instead of weekly, basis.

                    "Our community has been clear that graffiti removal is important to them and they want more action taken to address tagging across the municipality. So together with the Victorian Government we are responding with a six-month cleaning blitz which will see our city sparkle again as we welcome workers and visitors back."

                    The joint funding will also provide for additional waste services, including more hard waste collections for businesses and residents, more deep street cleaning, additional cleaning of outdoor dining parklets and increased dumped rubbish removal.  

                    The City of Melbourne normally invests almost $1 million on graffiti removal annually and removes around 50,000 square metres, or more than two MCGs worth of graffiti from private and public spaces every year. 


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