Graffiti: the writing’s on the wall

Peterborough doesn’t have as big a graffiti problem as many other British cities, though sadly its prevalence is on the rise, with more reports in 2016 than the year before. Graffiti is an issue throughout the city, though the city centre itself largely escapes this unwanted attention. ‘It’s one of those nuisances that’s constantly being tackled,’ explains Clark Chapman

Much of the graffiti is unsightly but inoffensive. It’s the graffiti that causes offensive which is dealt with immediately, to avoid upsetting residents.

‘We recently had an issue with racist graffiti at Ferry Meadows. It has to be dealt with straight away because the last thing we want it to do is upset anyone.’ Like fly-tipping, the council wants to hear about any incidents of graffiti you find. When a report is lodged, the graffiti is inspected by a council representative. Offensive graffiti takes priority, with a target removal time of six hours, while low-level (though still unsightly) graffiti, such as scribblings or tags, are removed as resources allow, with a target of three working days.

Cleaning it
Graffiti on public land is the responsibility of the council, who pay Amey, its waste and street cleaning partner, just over £35,000 a year for its removal. The preferred option for removal is to simply paint over the graffiti. This is a relatively quick process and won’t cause any damage to the underlying surface. If this isn’t possible or preferred, chemicals must be used in combination with warm, pressurised water.

The disadvantage of using water under pressure is that it can impact on the surface beneath. Wood is also quite hard to treat in this way as the ink or paint used in the graffiti often soaks into it. Graffiti on private land can also be removed by Amey, who offers a private, paid-for graffiti removal service. This uses exactly the same specialist equipment, techniques and trained operatives. The team can tackle any surface, from wood to concrete to painted surfaces.

Dealing with the on-going presence of graffiti isn’t cheap
Last year more than £1billion was spent tackling the blight – considerably more than fly-tipping. Much of the cost is down to the involved, time-consuming nature of its removal, in sharp contrast to the speed with which much graffiti is created. Vigilance and a speedy response can help to deter this antisocial behaviour by preventing it becoming the social norm. But this relies on residents reporting graffiti as soon as they see it.

Graffiti is nothing new – as the historic initials etched into so many churches confirms – but that doesn’t make it okay. Persistence will help keep the twin nuisances of graffiti and fly-tipping from escalating, and our city and surrounding countryside a clean and pleasant place to live.

Private graffiti cleaning: To speak to someone at Amey about the private graffiti removal service please call 01733 425425 (option 2).

Image: www.freepik.com/free-photo/concept-abstract-background-wall-sketch_1096252