Youth take responsibility for tagging

Owen Thomas, Beth Cooper and Youth Space intern Mark Manzano discuss how youth can lead the way in reducing Whangarei's graffiti problem. Photo / Michael Cunningham

Whangarei's youth have been credited as part of the solution for addressing the district's tagging epidemic.

Tagging rates in Whangarei have reduced about 30 per cent over the past five years, though rates vary seasonally, Whangarei District Council community services manager Owen Thomas said.

A tagging spike in early 2014 - which saw about 5000 tags recorded in one month - set in motion a move to address the problem, with Whangarei Youth Space (WYS) facilitating workshops between young people and the council.

WYS executive officer Beth Cooper said the fact the space had only been tagged once since it first opened in September 2013 was symbolic of the fact that young people valued it.

"It's that sense of belonging, this place belongs to young people and so they respect it," she said.

The organisation had also run a number of mural art workshops, with new art springing up within the space all the time.

"Part of our role is improving the relationship between young people and the wider community. Our approach is strength based, rather than seeing young people as a problem."

Mr Thomas said graffiti vandalism was a difficult issue to manage.

"The old adage is 'just don't do that'," he said. "Really it's about giving young people the tools to actually understand why [they] shouldn't," he said.

"It's not only working with the contractors and police to enforce the law, but having the conversation with young people around how to do better. Open conversations are just another part of the puzzle."

Since 2013, the council had been collecting data from all organisations involved in the clean-up, including private contractors. Mr Thomas said it was promising to see rates trending downwards, despite a wider data pool.

Vandalism, including non-graffiti damage, still cost the council about $500,000 a year - equivalent to about 335 average residential rates bills. Much of the damage was caused by a small group of recidivists, with the etching of glass a particularly prolific and costly problem.

"There's a small group of offenders - both young and old - who cause the majority of the vandalism. Working with police we have made some inroads by targeting those prolific offenders," Mr Thomas said.

Lion's Den Ministries youth worker Ryan Anderson said tagging often stemmed from a need to fit in with a peer group and "make a mark". Youth Space had made progress in terms of giving young people that sense of belonging.

"It comes from identifying to a group, then expressing that round town [through tags] to make their presence known ... There's definitely been a decrease," he said.