Graffiti is as ancient as human civilisation, and it’s no surprise many taggers have the brains of cavemen. Still, we’re on top of tag in our Whangarei and it’s thanks to CitySafe.

CitySafe has a strategy in place to help break down the system that allows graffiti. That strategy is called Report, Remove, Reduce, Resource. It stops taggers being allowed to go home without consequence after they’ve tagged. It stops the Whangarei public deeming their crime petty, meaningless, inconsequential.

Since CitySafe’s inception in 2009 it has achieved great things in Whangarei and the central business district has now become a zone without visual pollution. This is possible because in Whangarei, we remove graffiti as soon as it occurs, so taggers don’t develop the belief that what they’ve done is tolerable. It’s come about because of a community efforts, some of which you can read about here.

Tech has played a role as well – City Safe offers 0508 CITY SAFE, which directs calls to Environmental Northland, plus CCTV coverage is now extensive, there is better lighting in the CBD, and City Safe logos have been placed in trouble spots.

The biggest factor in removing the tagging, however, has been you, the public, with the council receiving emails on mailroom@wdc.govt.nz with pictures of the offending tagging.

Great things have come about with CitySafe, not only within the CBD of Whangarei. They are able to deal with graffiti all over the beautiful district of Whangarei. So get involved and report any issues for CitySafe to work for you.