Cleaning up the streets

A quiet but determined army of volunteers has been waging war on graffiti across Sydney’s north. Dubbed the Grey Graffiti Squad, their work might not make news headlines but, for thousands of residents, the difference is clear.

Words: Nadia Howland.

The Rotary Club of Turramurra’s Graffiti Removal Project has been scrubbing, painting and restoring public spaces for nearly two decades.

With their high-vis vests, signature trailer and brushes in hand, these passionate retirees have become a fixture in the region.

With the support of Dulux’s Community Donation Program, the Grey Graffiti Squad has cleaned well over 8,000 graffiti sites.

It all started thanks to Graffiti Removal Project team leader, Roger Norman. After a year or two of retirement, he joined Rotary with the hope of filling his spare time with some charity work.

“I wanted to get involved in a hands-on project,” Roger explains. “All of a sudden, I started to notice there was a lot of graffiti around the area, so I thought it would make a good project.

“The Rotary club helped me get it established, and in January 2008 we – that being a couple of us – began operating out of the boot of my car.

“We listed out 96 sites in Warrawee and Turramurra. We were mostly cleaning up graffiti tags on electricity boxes and poles.”

Roger says they had no experience in removing graffiti but learned quickly once they hit the streets.

“There’s three ways to remove graffiti, and it all depends on the type of surface. If it’s non-porous like metal, for example, you can usually get the paint off with a mild graffiti solution and a rag. If the surface is painted, we would normally just colour-match and repaint it. If it’s a porous surface like a fence paling or brick, we use a strong graffiti removal solution followed by a water blaster.”

After more Rotary club members joined the crew, Dulux came onboard as a supporter and they also received grants from Bendigo Bank and the local Chamber of Commerce. They put the funds towards a specially designed trailer with two water tanks, which became their mobile headquarters.

“These days, we know where the graffiti is going to be put up,” Roger says.

“It’s places like shopping centres and residential streets. The best strategy is removing it as quickly as possible. People who put up these tags do it so other people will see it. And the idea is that when one group puts up a tag, another group will see it and put theirs up. So it just increases the longer the tags are up. It’s like marking territory to tell all their mates they’ve been there, and so on.

“There’s a big difference between people who do professional graffiti murals and those who are simply scribbling and tagging.

After tackling graffiti in the area for several years, the club won a State Government tender to conduct Graffiti Removal Day, which aims to encourage the public to clean graffiti in their local area throughout New South Wales.

The Grey Graffiti Squad has also presented to 90 other Rotary clubs, encouraging them to take up their own graffiti removal projects.

It’s a huge boon for communities and local councils.

“Council’s policy is that they’ll clean graffiti off their own property, but they won’t do private property,” Roger explains.

“Now you can argue one way and the other way whether they should or they shouldn’t, but what they have done is form their own graffiti removal squad, which has been a great help.

“We have some great relationships with various people in the council, and they’ve certainly been very supportive.

“I hope this serves as a sort of trampoline for other people who are looking to volunteer and want to start their own initiative, who might take a leaf out of our book.”

Asked what advice he would give to anyone looking to start their own graffiti removal crew, Roger says, “You don’t need a large number of people. And that’s really one of the attractions of the project – you can do it with just two or three people. We usually go and have a coffee together afterwards, so it’s a good opportunity to have a social catch-up”.

As for the offenders? Roger says it’s difficult to press charges unless they’re caught in the act.

“When they are caught, there can be a magistrate and a committee of people who have been affected by the offence. It might be the police, it might be the owner of the property, the tagger, and possibly their family.

“They get together and decide upon the appropriate recourse for the offence. That might involve the offender writing an apology letter to the property owner or the police for the inconvenience and the wasted time. It might be sentencing of 50 hours’ community service removing graffiti and so on,” he says.

“I’ve heard a suggestion that a good deterrent for younger offenders might be having their licence application deferred for a year or two if they are caught and charged. You know, one of the ambitions of a 16-year-old is to get their driver’s licence as quickly as possible.

“I think that’d be a marvellous deterrent and could help keep more young people out of the court and prison system.”

This article was first published in Our Generation magazine.