Cleaning up area's walls

Craigavon Community Safety Partnership (CCSP) has secured a further 30,000 from the European Union’s PEACE III to continue with the scheme.

Since 2007 over 80,000 has been invested in removing graffiti from over 6,000 sqm of the borough.

It's been identified that graffiti affects communities by reducing pride and increasing the fear of crime. The objectives of the Graffiti Removal Scheme therefore are to identify and remove offensive graffiti from areas in order to improve the appearance of the borough and to instill pride in areas that have been targeted.

The CCSP works with the local community to remove graffiti and to encourage people to become more proactive in reporting and dealing with this issue. CCSP urges residents to report all perpetrators of graffiti to the PSNI to prevent those from using graffiti to display offensive messages and slogans.

"We are delighted to have been successful in securing this funding to continue with the Graffiti Removal Scheme, which has been a vital tool in combating attempts to intimidate the community and present a poor image of the area,” commented Councillor Michael McGoldrick, Chair of the CCSP.

“No one agency has a statutory remit for graffiti removal within the Borough and therefore it is the respective property owners who are responsible for it. This issue would have continued to escalate with no reduction strategy in place if the CCSP hadn’t felt it was beneficial to continue with such a scheme to address this ongoing matter.”

The scheme is implemented and managed by the CCSP and part-funded through the EU’s PEACE III Programme, managed by the Special EU Programmes Body.

For further information, contact Pamela Hanna, Project Co-ordinator, Community Safety Partnership on 3831 2491 or email [email protected]