Auckland Council has recorded and cleaned up nearly 48,000 graffiti incidents since July. Photo / Alex Burton
Almost half of graffiti is in the central and eastern suburbs, where about 24,000 tags have been recorded and cleaned since July.
South Auckland has the second-highest rate of graffiti, while the area north of the Harbour Bridge had the least.
The latest numbers far exceed those recorded during the peak of the Covid pandemic, when NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) and KiwiRail recorded extensive graffiti on motorways and rail corridors.
It also surpasses the last financial year, when a prolific Auckland tagger posted a frightening video of himself and an accomplice climbing above lanes of speeding motorway traffic and vandalising direction signs, eliciting disappointment from authorities.
Private residential properties or small business enterprises tend to be common targets like this property in Lynfield. Photo / Alex Burton
Auckland Council parks and community facilities manager Taryn Crewe said some pieces of infrastructure are more commonly targeted.
“Things like our private residential properties or small business enterprises tend to be common targets. Public fencing, toilets, skateparks, playgrounds and footpaths also get a few incidents,” Crewe said.
“Those hot spots tend to move depending on how proactive the response is in that part of the community.”
In the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board area alone, there has been vandalism at Waenganui/Allenby Park in Papatoetoe, Otamariki Park in Ōtara, Sikkim Park in Clover Park, East Tāmaki Reserve, and the new $10.8 million Hayman Park/Manu-kau Iho Noa playground.
Crewe said part of the increase is actually down to changes in recording. “Some of that is because our contractors included the proactive removal of graffiti within our public toilets and inside buildings.”
During the level 4 lockdown, there was an increase in tagging around the Auckland CBD. Photo/ Dean Purcell
Similar issues are also being reported in other centres, with Tauranga ratepayers paying more than $160,000 to clean up thousands of incidents of graffiti on bridges, underpasses, alleyways and bus shelters.
Auckland Council is using a range of methods to prevent graffiti, including strategically-placed green-wall vegetation to dissuade taggers and hanging movable artworks by local artists on frequently-targeted fences and walls.
Experiments with a protective coating called “graffiti guarding” – which makes graffiti easier to remove without damaging the surface it’s on – has had some success.
A trial involving laser removal hasn’t proven as effective.
Transportable CCTV cameras are also being installed in high-risk areas to provide information to the police on repeat offenders.
Crewe said graffiti crews are also working to tight targets.
“Contractors have to remove 40 pieces of graffiti for every one report of it from the public. We aim to remove graffiti within 24 hours of it being reported, and in two hours if it’s offensive.”
Jacob Jones is a Newstalk ZB reporter working out of the Auckland newsroom. He has an interest in council and local government issues.
