GRAFFITI MANAGEMENT PLAN 2020-2022 At Sutherland Shire Council we do more than serve our community - we are our community. We understand that our natural landscapes - the bays, beaches and bush - and our love of outdoor living gives us a unique energy that sets us apart from anywhere else. This translates into an active community - and a living energy - that propels us forward. To align our culture to our community we are collaborative, achieving, respectful and evolving - this energy can be seen in everything we do. From having a can-do attitude, to embracing opportunity and change, being people-centred and working together as one. That’s why Sutherland Shire is a place for life - its vibrancy brings people to life and makes it a place they want to stay forever. It’s our role to enhance the spirit of our area and its people. Cover Walk the Walls 2019 Artist | Phibs Prepared by Sutherland Shire Council July 2020 Contact Details 4-20 Eton Street Sutherland NSW Australia Locked Bag 17, Sutherland NSW 1499 Acknowledgement of Country Sutherland Shire Council acknowledges and T 02 9710 0333 pays respect to the Traditional Owners of the [email protected] land, the Dharawal speaking people. We pay sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au respect to their culture, history and Elders, past, © Sutherland Shire Council 2020 present and future. 2 Graffiti Management Plan 2020 - 2022 | sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au CONTENTS Purpose ................................................... 5 Introduction ........................................... 6 Relevant Legislation, Regulations and Guidelines ................. 9 Graffiti Prevention and Management .................................. 9 Key Partnerships ...................................13 Graffiti Reporting .................................18 Graffiti Removal Register ....................21 Prosecution ..........................................21 Plan of Action ......................................22 Related Documents ............................23 Definition of terms ...............................23 References ............................................24 Appendix A Anti - Graffiti Coated Buildings .........25 Appendix B Graffiti Hot-spots .................................26 sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au | Graffiti Management Plan 2020 - 2022 3 4 Graffiti Management Plan 2020 - 2022 | sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au 1. Purpose The Graffiti Management Plan has been created to underpin, enhance and expand on Council’s Graffiti Management Policy and to support the community’s aspirations of a liveable place with a high quality of life and enhanced safety. The Plan represents Council’s management and treatment of graffiti vandalism including property owned by Council, private property and property owned by other government departments and agencies within the Sutherland Shire. It expands on the Policy’s outcomes and principles and highlights Council’s commitment to partnering with the community, other key stakeholders and NSW Police to reduce the social, environmental and economic impact of graffiti vandalism. It also provides situational analysis and details initiatives and outlines the pro- active approach and plan of action that will be employed to combat this issue in the coming years. The intended outcomes of the plan are: • PREVENT and minimise incidents of graffiti vandalism within the Shire. the social, environmental and economic impact of graffiti • REDUCE vandalism. Council, the community and other key stakeholders with an • PROVIDE effective framework to respond. • ENHANCE community confidence and perception of safety. The key actions that will be employed are: 1. Graffiti Prevention – Via engagement and education, partnerships with key stakeholders and application of Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) principles. 2. Graffiti Reporting – To Council, other Agencies and NSW Police. 3. Graffiti Removal – Via undertaking rapid removal of graffiti vandalism. 4. Prosecution – Support the apprehension and prosecution of graffiti vandals. sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au | Graffiti Management Plan 2020 - 2022 5 2. Introduction 2.1 GRAFFITI VANDALISM Blockbuster – used to cover a large area in a small amount of time. Graffiti vandalism is the damaging or defacing of property, by means of chalk, scratching, paint, felt tip markers or other materials, including the unauthorised placement of billboards and posters. It is illegal and an offence under the Graffiti Control Act (2008). It is a widespread issue that has proven hard for Councils’ to prevent and minimise. In public places it tends to lend itself to a perception Wild-style – an elaborate version of a of poor safety and has financial impact, with throw-up and is particularly hard to read. Council on average spending over $300,000 per year on preventative initiatives and ongoing maintenance programs to manage and remove graffiti vandalism. It is widely recognised (NSW Police, other NSW Councils) that a multi- faceted holistic and collaborative approach needs to be employed to effectively combat this issue. Heaven – a tag or artwork in a difficult and dangerous place. Due to the risk, an illegal Graffiti vandalism comes in many different piece will gain the vandal respect from styles and forms, examples of these are: other vandals. Tag – generally 1 colour and features an identifier. Stencil - a fast and easy way to put up detailed and repeatable pieces. Throw-up – a more complicated tag featuring 2 colours and bubble style lettering. 6 Graffiti Management Plan 2020 - 2022 | sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au Poster (Paste-up) – a quick and easy way to 2.2 WHO UNDERTAKES GRAFFITI? put up prefabricated temporary pieces. Research undertaken by the NSW Government (Department of Justice) indicates that graffiti vandalism and tagging is most frequently done by teenagers. However, there is evidence that people into their 20s and 30s can still have an appetite to undertake the application of illegal graffiti. This generally comes in the form of tagging, stencilling, throw-ups and un- commissioned murals. 2.3 WHY IS GRAFFITI A PROBLEM? Graffiti vandalism impacts negatively on Council and the community. In public places it lends itself to a perception of poor safety, and impacts negatively on social, environmental and financial outcomes. Sticker (Slap) - Like a downsized poster, and just as easy to execute. Many stickers 2.4 SITUATIONAL ANALYSIS are the same as tagging. Graffiti in the Sutherland Shire All graffiti vandalism reported to Council is recorded in the Australian Graffiti Register (AUSGR). Data from AUSGR indicates that the graffiti culture within the Sutherland Shire is predominantly word-based tagging. Generally, tagging offenders are motivated by peer recognition within the graffiti subculture. Research (NSW Department of Justice) Piece –short for masterpiece, these contain indicates that the level of notoriety is often at least 3 colours and are painted free hand. measured against the number of highly visible An illegal piece will gain the vandal respect tags and the risks taken to undertake the graffiti. from other vandals. On average, Council annually processes and removes around 1470 graffiti incidents within the Sutherland Shire. Data shows an overall reduction (- 24%) in the volume of graffiti vandalism reported and removed over recent years (2015 to 2019). Additionally, stats gathered (as per table below) from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR) highlight that in 2019 the Sutherland Shire ranked 77 out of 120 LGA’s for graffiti vandalism reported to the Police from the community. This is lower than other LGA’s in the St George-Sutherland statistical subdivision. sutherlandshire.nsw.gov.au | Graffiti Management Plan 2020 - 2022 7 Graffiti Hot-spots Graffiti hotspots are those Local Government Area’s (LGAs) with the highest number of recorded incidences of graffiti. It represents a localised area that has a large share of the total volume of graffiti vandalism incidents for the whole region. A hot-spot may be a geographically bounded suburb, or an area within a suburb (park, street, sporting field etc.) where graffiti vandalism is observed at higher proportions than other areas in the Sutherland Shire. BOCSAR is used to research and gather statistics on graffiti vandalism hot-spots. An example of this can be seen below, highlighting, that during a 24 month period (2018/19), hot-spots in the Shire have included Cronulla, Caringbah, Miranda, Sutherland and Engadine - as seen below and the list to the top 10 LGAs in NSW with the highest number of graffiti incidents in 2016. Hot-spots - October 2018 to September 2019: Top 10 LGAs for graffiti No. of Rank Postcode Incidents 1 Wyong 399 2 Lake 353 Macquarie 3 Sydney 350 4 Sutherland 335 Shire 5 Blacktown 309 6 Newcastle 270 7 Blue 256 Mountains 8 Wollongong 229 9 Marrickville 152 10 Gosford 147 Source: NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (BOCSAR), 2016. Source: NSW BOCSAR, 2020 Table 2 - Suburbs Impacted by Graffiti Vandalism: AUSGR is also used to gather data to Total No. Total m2 analyse graffiti vandalism trends and of Incidents Removed to profile and respond to suburbs SUBURB (2015/19) (2015/19) and sites that are affected by graffiti vandalism. AUSGR data highlights CRONULLA 2,095 10,371 that between 2015 and 2019, Cronulla has ranked as the suburb CARINGBAH 650 3,486 that has been the most affected by graffiti vandalism. Other suburbs MENAI 585 7,551 that feature prominently during this period (See Table 2)- MIRANDA 513 4,865 SUTHERLAND 392 2,544 ENGADINE