City of Sydney Approves Graffiti Clean Up

18 March 2003

The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Frank Sartor, today announced the Council has approved a contract to clean up graffiti in the new areas soon to become part of the City of Sydney .

Starting 8 May 2003 the City will spend over $800,000 per annum on graffiti removal in the news areas of Glebe and Forest Lodge in the west, and Kings Cross, Potts Point, Rushcutters Bay, Elizabeth Bay, Darlinghurst, Chippendale, and Darlington in the east and south.

“It is part of the City’s commitment to deliver better neighbourhoods for the residents, businesses and visitors to the areas as soon as possible and into the future.”

The Lord Mayor said the City of Sydney had been at the forefront of efforts to give councils added powers to deal with graffiti.

New graffiti arrangements are made possible by legislation passed in 2002 by the Carr Government giving councils the power to remove graffiti from all publicly accessible walls on both public and private property.

“We have been a leader in programs designed to remove graffiti from all areas and our policy has clearly worked,” the Lord Mayor said.

The City’s policy is to remove graffiti from identified ‘hot spots’ within 24 hours and from all other areas within 24 hours of being identified or after inspection every four days.

Overall the City, in existing and new City of Sydney areas,  is budgeting to spend nearly $1.5 million on graffiti removal campaigns in the next financial year.

Media Contact:
Rod Metcalfe
Office of the Lord Mayor
Telephone: 02 9265-9400 or 0419 275 360
Email: rmetcalfe@cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au