High school students from Varsity Lakes who were commissioned by the Gold Coast City Council to paint murals on the newly opened Cassia Drive Skate Park have had their work defaced by graffiti vandals.
The murals designed to add colour to the skate parks concrete bowls, islands and stairs include a giant spider and creative graphic designs all of which were ‘tagged’ by unknown graffitists.
Councillor for Varsity Lakes and Robina district Jan Grew said she was frustrated with the constant damage being caused to both public and private property in the area.
It took a day and a half to clean up the damage that was done to the murals,” she said
“It’s getting worse, council property, government property, walls, mailboxes are all being vandalised.”
According to the Gold Coast City Council website, it is spending approximately $1.3 Million dollars city wide on clearing up graffiti attacks on both public and private property.
Councillor Grew said the money being spent on repairing the damage meant that community projects had to be put on hold.
“One Million dollars could be spent building 10 brand new playgrounds or a small community hall,” Councillor Grew said.
Councillor Grew said people who use the skate park have to take ownership and responsibility of the facilities provided by the council.
To help the Gold Coast City Council to rid the city of graffiti they need residents to report incidents, she said.
Varsity Lakes residents who wish to report graffiti can do so by contacting the graffiti hotline on 5581 7998.
The council is currently running initiatives to prevent graffiti such as ‘ArtBox’ which is designed to promote public art work and deter vandalism.
Over 40 traffic signal boxes in Surfers Paradise have been painted with community inspired artworks. Signal boxes are targeted by vandals because of their high visibility in being located near major intersections. It is hoped that by painting them this will deter vandals.