The City of Gosnells is set to benefit from a new $20,000 commitment from the Liberal Government geared towards anti-graffiti efforts in the community.
The funds will go towards the city’s Graffiti Prevention Campaign, which aims to engage young people in art-based workshops with input from prominent street artist Hans Bruechle.
City of Gosnells chief executive Ian Cowie said the program focused on educating young people about the consequences and risks associated with graffiti including the impact of a criminal record on future employment prospects, overseas travel and participation in elite sports.
“The city works on a broad range of programs through its Safe City initiative to clean up graffiti and keep the suburbs free of vandalism,” he said.
“This funding will enable the city to adopt a new approach by working collaboratively with young people.”
Mr Cowie said the funding was expected to assist in reducing the level of graffiti vandalism and ultimately decrease the number of offenders.
Liberal candidate for Thornlie Rob Coales welcomed the announcement.
“Graffiti has long been a major issue in and around Gosnells,” he said.
“It remains a blight on our local community that affects businesses, families, tourism and environment.
“This funding will prove very important in the fight to prevent and remove graffiti across our suburbs, which residents rightly expect and deserve.”
Mr Coales said as a former police officer and now political candidate he has seen the effects of graffiti in Gosnells.
“I’m committed to continuing to advocate for further advances,” he said.
“This new funding comes as a complement to the Liberal Government’s tough new anti-graffiti laws including a stand-alone graffiti offence that carries significant maximum penalties of a $24,000 fine and two years behind bars.”
