Community distaste for the graffiti plastered on the train track overpass on Clyde Road has reached a boiling point, as councillors and residents gathered in a push for action.
On the sunny afternoon of Thursday, 31 July, Akoonah Ward councillor Scott Dowling, accompanied by Cr Kim Ross, Cr Anthony Walter, and several locals, voiced the “disrespect” and indignity of Berwick’s identity by the tagging.
“That is offensive to everyone, and graffiti encourages graffiti; we need to stamp it out now,” Dowling said.
The train track overpass is a relatively new feature for Clyde Road and Berwick as part of the State Government’s Level Crossing Removal Project.
A road underpass was constructed beneath the train line, and the old track borders featured new barriers, which are now littered with white spray paint.
Richard, who lives nearby and drives under the pass regularly, said that “this is fairly new and we want to keep it as pristine as we can”.
“The residents are upset at what they have to look at every single time we drive down here; it’s a slur on the community, too.
“There’s also some artwork there that’s now been covered over, so we need to protect that,” he said.
Dowling was adamant that something should be done to clean the graffiti, also touching on safety concerns about how the works’ perpetrators were able to tag the barrier in the first place.
First voicing his concerns to Metro Trains Melbourne (MTM) and Public Transport Victoria (PTV), considering that the overpass and barriers are under the State Government authority, Dowling received a response that PTV is not required to remove graffiti from buildings, structures and fences, unless it is deemed to be offensive.
Offensive graffiti is defined as anything that depicts political, religious, racist, sexist, sexually explicit or any other materials that could be reasonably considered contentious; at that point, only the offensive section would be removed.
“I think there is something we [the council] can do about it, because this is going to get out of hand,” Dowling said.
“The council offered to do something about it, but we were told no, and several residents have also written letters and have gotten the response that they can’t do anything about it.
“They need to let the council do something about it, because this is a blight on our town.”
Berwick MP and Opposition leader, Brad Battin, is also on the same boat, adding that earlier in the year, he wrote to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure regarding the removal of the graffiti.
“The response I received stated that Metro is ‘required to remove graffiti in accessible areas of train stations within 24 hours’.
“However, the Minister also stated that ‘priority is given to all rail assets in accessible locations and where large areas of graffiti can be removed with the resources and time available’.
“At the end of the Minister’s response, they said that ‘the location and type of graffiti requires a more complex removal process… MTM is currently working through an appropriate approach to remove the graffiti and required permits’.” Battin said.
He added that the delay and prolonged process is a “symbol” from the state government that they have “stopped prioritising the protection of public property”, a sentiment shared by Dowling, the other councillors and residents.
Sandra, a Berwick local, said that looking at it, almost every single day, “is just awful”.
“It’s time it was addressed, I mean, people say it’s just paint, but why don’t we just litter all the streets then?
“Berwick’s always been a nice place to be in, it’s got that nice village atmosphere, and the graffiti doesn’t help, it really lowers the standard,” she said.
A media release by the state government in 2023 detailed that they will be delivering an extra $5.5 million for cleaning up the state’s road network.
As it stands, Dowling said that the City of Casey has a “zero-tolerance” approach to graffiti and vandalism, with him, alongside the residents, hoping action can be taken on the overpass.
