Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Social media an outlet for taggers

By Kim Fulton
Rotorua Daily Post·
27 May, 2016 09:00 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

FILE

FILE

Rotorua Lakes Council spends more than $70,000 each year cleaning up after taggers - though one official believes social media may be helping reduce the problem.

The council paid contractors $71,543 for graffiti removal last year, compared to $82,365 the previous year and $71,433 in 2013.

Group manager, strategy and partnerships Jean-Paul Gaston said contractors had responded to 79 instances of graffiti so far this year.

Mr Gaston said there could be additional graffiti removal jobs where expenses had been included in general maintenance budgets or within contracts.

Rotorua police area prevention manager Inspector Stuart Nightingale believed social media could be having an impact on tagging.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"Graffiti, as a crime problem, has nowhere near the visibility it used to have and quite possibly, with the advent of social media, it's reduced people's appetite to scribble on walls because they have other and more effective ways to put themselves out there," he said.

Council public relations manager Mary Anne Gill said the council didn't have specific measures to discourage tagging, apart from locking public toilets at night.

However, it had a strong public art focus, particularly in the inner city.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Ms Gill said the council was unaware of any taggers being caught in the last two years. It worked to remove 95 per cent of graffiti within 24 hours, she said.

Last year, the neighbourhood policing team co-ordinated an initiative to discourage tagging in Western Heights.

Sergeant Steve Sutton, who led the initiative, said police involved local schools and youth with murals to cover up a wall at a shopping complex where tagging and anti-social behaviour had been a problem.

Mr Sutton said the project had great results and the neighbourhood team hoped to run a similar one this year.

"The key is giving people ownership and getting the kids who may be causing the problems to be involved in the solution," he said.

Auckland Council has reduced graffiti through eradication, enforcement and education, and is sharing its secrets with other councils.

Senior adviser graffiti vandalism prevention Rob Shields said four service providers provide graffiti vandalism prevention and removal services to the council.

They included Tag Out Trust, which combatted graffiti through removal, youth education and community volunteer support.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

11 Jul 12:26 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM

Mark 'Shark' Hohua died in June 2022 after a violent assault over money.

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

11 Jul 12:26 AM
Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Heavy rain warning issued for Bay of Plenty, up to 140mm expected

Heavy rain warning issued for Bay of Plenty, up to 140mm expected

10 Jul 10:57 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP