Belfast City Council is to look at “naming and shaming” public companies that do not clear graffiti on their buildings.
Councillors at a City Hall committee this week agreed to look at developing “memorandums of understanding” with utility companies, telecoms companies, government departments and other public bodies to quickly remove graffiti.
It comes from a motion proposed by SDLP Botanic Councillor Gary McKeown during the council’s People and Communities Committee monthly meeting. It states: “This council recognises the impact graffiti has on communities in terms of the environment and appearance of an area, but also on the wellbeing of residents.
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“While the council has a limited programme of graffiti removal and the role of this is under regular review, it is recognised that this alone cannot meet the widespread need to tackle this issue, nor should it fall solely to the ratepayer to fund this work.”
It adds: “The council will therefore commence work with companies, to seek agreement that they will remove graffiti on utility boxes and other property within their ownership within a defined, short period of time. Further, the council will look at whether any additional bye-laws are required to support this work.
“To enable the simple and quick reporting and redirection of graffiti notifications to responsible bodies under this model, the council will work with these groups to map and catalogue public infrastructure and its respective ownership, and provide a single point of contact within the customer hub for members of the public and council staff to report incidents, which will then be redirected to the responsible body.”
Councillor McKeown told the committee: “I know it is only the initial phase, but I have to emphasise how important this is as an issue. Across the city people are just fed up with the prevalence of graffiti, and in particular tagging on public infrastructure.
“We feed through stuff to the council, but with the best will in the world we are never going to have the resources to deal with it. Nor do I think it should be the responsibility of the council to remove graffiti over all pieces of public infrastructure.
“We have infrastructure across the city which is owned in a large part by multinational, highly funded private companies, and I think there is a duty of care and a responsibility to ensure those properties are maintained to an acceptable standard.
“Particularly since lockdown, where people have been spending more time in their areas, they are really seeing how much of an issue this is. It drags down the look of an area, it drags down civic pride, and has an effect on people’s wellbeing.
“So it is essential that the council shows as the civic body in this city that we are leading on the issue, without actually dispensing the removal of the graffiti, and ensuring that those who do actually have the responsibility of removing the graffiti are taking appropriate steps within particular guidelines and times to remove it.
“And indeed if we are finding that utility companies, government bodies etc aren’t fulfilling their obligations or are refusing to engage with the council by signing up to the MOU’s, then we name and shame them. The people of Belfast have the right to know what responsibility or lack of responsibility is being taken by the owners of these pieces of street furniture, to remove the graffiti, and to ensure the communities in which they place these items are being maintained to an acceptable standard.”
An initial report has been commissioned to look at costs and resources implications to the council.
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