If your property is continuously being hit there are some steps you can take to help prevent tagging:
- Plant shrubs or a tree against walls and fences exposed to tagging or plant climbing shrubs or hedges. Species with prickles provide additional protection.
- Paint your fences and walls standard colours because unpainted fences act as magnets to taggers.
- If your street front boundary is an unbroken surface, that may be appealing to taggers. Consider coating it with an anti-graffiti system like Resene Uracryl. Once cured you will be able to quickly clean away graffiti without damaging the paint finish.
- Don’t throw out any unused fence paint: keep it in case you need to use it again. Keep a small pot of your fence paint and a brush handy for quick touch-ups if needed.
- If hiring mini skip bins, request that you receive only graffiti-free ones.
- Install security nightlights in possible graffiti prone areas. Lights with motion sensors are a popular choice as they only activate when a person approaches.
- Install video surveillance cameras. The possibility of being caught on film is a good deterrent.
- Do an informal audit of your home or business. Can people jump on your rubbish bin and onto the roof? Is there a dark wall that doesn’t face the street and is poorly lit? Are there bins or bushes that might provide visual shelter for taggers while they graffiti?
- Carefully store and dispose of paints. Ensure all spray paint cans you use are completely empty before discarding them and make sure any full or partially full ones are kept well stored.
Adopt a Spot to keep Lower Hutt graffiti-free
Keep New Zealand Beautiful – with support from Resene and the Ministry of Justice – provides free tool kits for anyone wanting to keep an area of their neighbourhood graffiti-free. Kits include rags, spray bottle, remover solvent, paint, brush, roller, gloves, hat and hi-vis jacket. Contact Keep New Zealand Beautiful to request a kit.
For those wishing to request a kit they will need to complete the message section of the request form on the Keep New Zealand Beautiful website providing their name and address and the reason that they are requesting a pack for example:
- My street is routinely vandalised and I would like to maintain it
- My fence and the fence of my neighbours is routinely vandalised, I would like to keep it graffiti free
- Myself and my neighbours are keen to adopt our street/suburb and keep it graffiti free
- My community group would like to do a clean-up of graffiti vandalism in our neighbourhood
This service is not provided by Hutt City Council, it is provided by Keep New Zealand Beautiful.
However registering with the Council Adopt a Spot programme will also help you with continued paint supplies again provided by Resene.
Should you wish to find out further information please refer to the KNZB website or contact them directly.