Rotorua spending thousands every year on graffiti removal

Hundreds of thousands of dollars are spent on graffiti removal year in the Bay of Plenty. Photo / File

Vivid, twink and spray cans can turn clean streets in a tourism hotspot into a messy canvas. So what does it take to keep Rotorua streets clean?

Rotorua Lakes Council spends $60,000 on graffiti removal each year and a professional remover says the city's response is what kept the spending low.

Graffiti Doctor operations manager Shane Petrowski said in comparison to other cities he worked, Rotorua and Taupō were exemplary.

He said the cities were generally clear of unwanted vandalism which he said was a combination of the fact the places were "tourism hotspots" which prompted a quick response by councils.

The Tauranga council had allocated $165,000 for graffiti removals this year after spending $159,069.78 last year.

Petrowski's service operated privately out of Hawkes Bay and was contracted to private properties in Rotorua about three times a month, which he said was not a lot.

When it comes to it, the sooner it's gone, the better.

"The taggers don't get any kudos by other taggers, and it tends to keep it at a minimum," Petrowski said.

Summer holidays were "without a doubt" the busiest time of the year, which he said came down to young people with spare time in the warmer, dryer weather.

"In wintertime it's too cold, too wet. There's no point tagging anything because it won't stick."

"Kids have got all the time on their hands and they're walking around with vivid and twink pens... scribbling on bus stops and that sort of thing," he said.

NZ Mural artist Alex McLeod said there was a fine line between graffiti and street art and in his experience, murals were a good deterrent to vandalism of property.

McLeod has lived in Tauranga for nearly three years and did commercial street murals.

While he did not have a background in graffiti, he worked with a graffiti removal service when he worked in Hamilton which he said was progressive in both removing graffiti and promoting the art.

The Rotorua Lakes Council's sport, recreation and environment manager Rob Pitkethley estimated the cost of removing graffiti cost an average of $60,000 a year.

He said specific figures were unavailable as it was incorporated into the park's asset cleaning.

A response to an Official Information Act request in 2016 found $71,433 was spent in 2013, $83,365 in 2014 and $71,543 in 2015.

A police spokeswoman said police knew of the regular taggers as it was often involved in other offending but it was a difficult offence to prove.

She said graffiti was not a significant issue in the region but the presence of graffiti encouraged more graffiti.

Police recommended those who had issues with tagging install security measures such as cameras.