Victory for Common Sense after Lib Dem Campaign on Local Graffiti
You may have seen in the news last week that local Lib Dems were oppsoing the Council’s ludicrous heavy-handedness over the issue of graffiti.
The Council had sent letters out to local people who had graffiti on their homes, threatening them with court action and a £1,000 fine if they didn’t get the mess cleaned up. Many of the recipients of the letters were scared and annoyed, and local Lib Dem Councillors were livid. The Council were not only abdicating their responsibilities to act to prevent and clean up graffiti, but the letters were outrageously over the top.
Now though, after a campaign against this action, the Council have relented. The threat of court action and fines has been lifted, and local people will soon be contacted offering them free use of graffiti cleaning kits. This comes on top of news that four of the main culprits have been detained by Police, and will be given the option of cleaning their mess themselves as part of their punishment.
Whilst this is a major move forward, and a victory for common sense, I still think that the Council needs to do more to remove graffiti itself. Nothing displays crime in an area more than graffiti, and it sends a clear message that the law-breakers have one over the law-keepers. At the moment the Council doesn’t prioritise its removal, and I think it should. Our local environment is important, and whilst home-owners should be involved in cleaning up graffiti, the Council and its partners shouldn’t rely on them exclusively to clean up after vandals.
Rick
2 Comments
have your say
I was talking with Tim about this. Does the council actually have the power to force you to clean up painting on your property in the way tried here. I thought (apart from people living in conservation etc areas) you could paint your house how you wanted and grafitti is on that level a form of house painting.
That said most people would want it removed - it does seem ludicrous that the stick rather than the carrot is used.
I don’t know the answer to your question… But the fact that it comes to asking it is an indictment of the Council’s policy. Anyone with a shred of common sense would realise that these people are victims of crime. They should be supported as such and not bullied into feeling that they’re the criminals themselves. This type of petty officialdom drives me up the wall. I’m glad that, together, we cracked it.