A Nelson painter has taken matters into his own hands after months of graffiti on local roads failed to be removed, saying the tagging had become an eyesore.
Tuliff says he began noticing graffiti while driving around the city and contacted the council eight months ago to report it. However, council say they had no record of him making contact about graffiti.
“We had quite a bit on our road and that was bothering me a little bit,” he says of Stafford Avenue. “It was just not getting fixed.”
A couple of weeks ago, with nothing rectified, Tuliff decided to act.
One spot that particularly bothered him was a fence on Waimea Rd at the roundabout.
“You see it, everyone sees it when they’re driving, and it was just getting worse and worse. I thought, ‘okay, it’s time to do something about it’.”
Tuliff, owner of Apex Painters says he wanted to bring awareness to the issue rather than make a point against graffiti itself.
He spoke with the owner of a property behind one of the fences, who had even spent a night in his car “staking the site” in an attempt to catch the offenders.
On Rocks Rd, Tuliff says an elderly woman had been out on the main road trying to scrub graffiti off herself.
“There’s a footpath, but the trucks come past and I thought it’s crazy to hear those stories.”
Paint company Resene came on board and donated paint for the projects.
Nelson City Council manager delivery operations Eddie Powick says service requests about graffiti generally fall into two categories, each with a different response.
“Offensive graffiti is prioritised for removal or covering as quickly as possible, often within hours of Council being notified. Non-offensive graffiti that has been reported will be scheduled for removal or painting as part of routine maintenance works.
“Of course, this only applies to buildings and structures owned by council, so we applaud Mr Ivott for helping people with their private property.”
Eddie says some council assets have specialised anti-graffiti coatings, and painting over them may reduce their effectiveness or cause damage.
“In addition, any work undertaken on the transport network may require a Traffic Management Plan to ensure the safety of both the public and contractors.
“Council also discourages members of the public from attempting to remove graffiti from council-owned buildings themselves. If the graffiti is on private property, we encourage them to consider their own safety first.”
“We're not against graffitiing,” Tuliff stresses.
His son has recently returned from Mexico and says the colours of street art there are beautiful.
“There’s a place for it, to go and do all that kind of street art. We're not against that.”
“I drive around and, being a painter, I notice it, and I kind of go, ‘well, it's not getting fixed, it's been a long time, no one's doing anything about it’.”
“It took me two hours to do that fence the other day, it doesn't take me much, and it looks better.”
“If people see a bit of tagging that's bothering them, and it's not getting done, give me a call,” Tuliff adds.
Graffiti can be reported to the council by calling 03 546 0200 or through the Antenno app.
