New Plymouth District Council says a spate of graffiti hitting public toilets around New Plymouths’ CBD is putting pressure on its cleaning budget.
Council Manager Parks and Open Spaces, Conrad Pattison said 80 graffiti incidents last month is almost twice the number of clean-ups carried out in the same month last year.
“We’ve spent about $90,000 on graffiti clean-up so far this financial year, with a month still to go,” he says.
“That’s almost double our $50,000 budget and doesn’t even include the cost of staff time.
“The public really appreciate how quickly our team removes damage like this but because we’re facing so much more than usual, we end up not spending money elsewhere as we had planned, such as for streetscape improvements and maintenance.
“The graffiti is just so pointless, especially as we make sure it’s gone again quickly.”
May’s 80 incidents compare with 58 in April and 55 March. In May last year, the Council responded to 35 graffiti reports.
“We don’t know for certain why there’s been a surge in graffiti but we’re hearing anecdotally that there are more people milling about in the CBD than usual,” says Mr Pattison.
Most of the reports of graffiti come from the public through the Antenno app and from Council’s toilet block cleaners.
In recent incidents, the slide in Pukekura Park was set alight and a toilet on the Bellringer Pavillion had its door kicked in and damage caused inside. A replacement part for the slide, which costs about $8000, has been ordered.
