A blitz to remove graffiti from some of the busiest parts of the city centre is under way. With £100,000 of funding agreed by Brighton and Hove City Council’s cabinet in June, buildings and street furniture from Brighton Station to the seafront, North Street and Western Road (from Dyke Road to Montpelier Road) will be cleaned over the next few weeks. The council said its contractors will then move to other places in the city centre.
Brighton and Hove City Council said it will clean city centre streets of graffiti (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus) Councillor Tim Rowkins, cabinet member for net zero and environmental services said: "Tackling graffiti tagging is one of our biggest priorities and this new action plan will play a huge part in cleaning up Brighton & Hove. “Illegal tagging is a problem we need to get on top of urgently, which is why we’re investing £100,000 in the immediate term to target tags on all buildings and street furniture in the city centre, regardless of who owns them." READ MORE: Man arrested after investigation into criminal damage and graffiti Cllr Rowkins added: “It’s an area where so many people live, work and travel through – we want to give them a city they can be proud of and I’m really looking forward to seeing the work being done first hand in the coming weeks.
“One of the keys to this new action plan is removing graffiti tagging quickly. New resources mean we’ll have more people on hand to do that, but we’ll also be holding big businesses and large organisations to account – requiring them to clean up tags within 28 days, or we’ll do it and recharge them. “We’ll take a firm approach to those offenders who consistently tag, but we’ll also work with streets artists to encourage the creativity and vibrancy they bring to our city.
” Graffiti on a telephone box in North Street, Brighton, which is one of the streets being cleaned (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus) The council has set out its new three-year Graffiti Tagging Action Plan which it said has been designed to target the quick removal, enforcement and prevention of illegal tagging across the city. Part of the plan means tags will be removed from all property, regardless of the owner. The council said it would, where appropriate, recover the costs of removing tags from large organisations, big businesses and statutory undertakers such telecoms companies, Royal Mail or Network Rail.
Since April, the council has increased the number of staff working on graffiti removal from four to ten. More vehicles and jet washing equipment are on their way..
