Govt funding for Christchurch Graffiti Office
MEDIA RELEASE 1 July 2008
Government
funding for Christchurch Graffiti Office
The
Christchurch Council’s planned Graffiti Office has been
granted $375,000 in Government funding, to be spread over
the next three years.
The office will focus on education, restoration and prevention and is expected to be up and running by October.
Chair of the Council’s Nuisances in Public Places Committee Councillor Bob Shearing said it was great the office had gained Government support. The committee had been right behind the initiative “and we look forward to supporting the staff as they get the office set up”, he said.
“The Council is determined to work with Police and other organisations to crack down on public nuisances like graffiti and noise, ” Cr Shearing said.
The Council’s Unit manager Community Support Catherine McDonald said she was very pleased the Council’s application had been successful, since there had been strong competition for the funding.
“There were submissions totalling $5 million competing for a fund of $1 million.
“I think our application was successful because we already had our planning well under way and processes in place for setting up the office.”
In addition to the Government funding, the Council has allocated $150,000 from its City Environment budget, and will be seeking support from potential partners like Orion, OnTrack and KiwiRail.
The money will be used for salaries, setting up expenses, education projects and a tagging database including photographs of different taggers’ styles.
Mrs McDonald said the Council spent about $1.1 million a year on combating graffiti and establishing a central office would help with the co-ordination with other services.
The Graffiti Office initiative connects with
other Council strategies on public nuisances. More
information is available on the Council website. Go to
www.ccc.govt.nz to find out more on:
• The Graffiti
Hotline
• Project Legit
• The Graffiti Vandalism
Removal Volunteer Programme
• Anti-graffiti
paint
• Crime Prevention through Urban Design
•
The Central City Revitalisation Strategy
• The Safer
Christchurch
Strategy
ENDS