Sherwood council’s blitz on ‘ugly crime’ of anti-social graffiti
A blitz to tackle the blight of anti-social graffiti in Ollerton, Sherwood Forest and Southwell has been launched.
Newark and Sherwood District Council has commandeered a designated cleaning team to remove unsightly scrawls throughout the area as part of a three-month campaign.
Where possible, all ‘deviant artwork’ will be cleared away from private property, free of charge, for the next two years.
The council aims to have the worst cases of graffiti, which are of a sexual, racist or offensive nature, removed within 36 hours of being reported, while others will be dealt with inside 14 days.
The £10,000 programme of action is in response to an increase in spray-can graffiti. Members of the public are being encouraged to report any new cases they spot.
Enforcement action will also be taken, with offenders issued with fixed-penalty notices or pursued either through the courts or the restorative justice system whereby the culprits have to clean up their own mess without further punishment.
Coun Roger Jackson, chairman of the council’s leisure and environment committee, said: “Through this new policy and programme of action, we are dealing head-on with all aspects of the problem of graffiti.
“We will deal the mess and the perpetrators to clear our communities of this ugly crime, which harms the image of so many places.”