By Belinda Nolan
ST ALBANS has been tagged as Brimbank’s number one graffiti hotspot.
Brimbank Council statistics reveal the suburb attracted the highest number of graffiti complaints, with 31 clean-up requests between January and March this year.
Albion was next on the dirty list, with 30 graffiti reports, followed by Sunshine with 26.
In the first three months of this year the council received a total of 170 please to remove graffiti, forking out a staggering $20,000 to foot the clean up bill.
More than half of the call outs involved council property, with the council also receiving requests to clean the tags off government, commercial and residential property.
Last week Star reported that the council had begun handing out graffiti removal kits to residents in a bid to stop vandals in their tracks.
Since commencing the program in March, the council has already given out 22 graffiti removal vouchers to help remove illegal tagging from their properties.
Council community wellbeing general manager Kelly Grigsby said the council recognised that legal graffiti art could make a positive contribution to the community.
She said examples of legal graffiti murals adorned the Sunshine and Albion train stations.
Residents wishing to obtain a free voucher or report graffiti on council property should contact the council’s customer service centre on 9249 4000.
