By LACHLAN MOORHEAD and GEORGIA WESTGARTH
CASEY Council has launched an online petition to tackle tagging across the municipality.
Council has long waged a war against the graffiti artists who adorn Casey’s freeway overpasses and signage with their spray paint tags, and now the City of Casey hopes its new Clean Up Your Act campaign steps it up a notch.
Local residents are being urged to sign the new petition which requests the State Government prioritise removing tags that plague VicRoads’ controlled signage and noise barriers along the Monash Freeway (Hallam Bypass) and railway bridges controlled by VicTrack.
The online petition automatically sends an email to Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allan and Roads Minister Luke Donnellan, who is also the Narre Warren North MP.
Earlier this month Star News reported on how Casey Council was also planning to erect signs over graffiti-ridden VicRoads property to encourage motorists to make a complaint call to get the streets cleaned up.
“The Monash Freeway and the Hallam Bypass, which is the gateway to our city, looks like downtown New York in the 1970s,” Casey mayor Sam Aziz told Star News at the time.
“And here we are working hard to build beautiful neighbourhoods and VicRoads don’t want to lift a finger, even though it’s their responsibility – we won’t stop until it gets fixed.”
Acting Metro South East regional director at VicRoads Vince Punaro said graffiti which was deemed offensive got “prioritised depending on its size and location on the road network, against other maintenance activities”.
Last financial year, VicRoads allocated $200,000 for graffiti removal in the Metropolitan South East region.
To sign council’s petition, visit www.casey.vic.gov.au/cleanupyouract.
Residents with information on vandals can contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, a part of the State Governments ‘Dob in a Tagger’ graffiti initiative.
