Christchurch City Council gets tough on taggers

Christchurch City Council has approved establishing an office to co-ordinate the removal of tagging and to prevent graffiti.

Deputy Mayor Norm Withers said the office was a "pro-active move" to solve the graffiti issue following the success of an earlier vandalism initiative.

"We are now taking a strategic lead by offering a three-pronged approach to curbing what is a significant growth in graffiti vandalism over the past two years," Mr Withers said.

Under the initiative, tags will be removed quickly by accredited community volunteer groups which would make taggers remove their marks.

Youth and community leaders would be educated about the impact of graffiti vandalism and an intervention programme would be introduced including "restorative justice strategies" to lower recidivism and include parents in the process.

Mr Withers said the council had a long way to go in reducing an "unacceptable epidemic".

"This initiative is a positive start."

- NZPA