Graffiti around the electorate of Drummoyne

Our local member, Angela D'Amore MP, has been in the news this week. She's been making comments about the government's graffiti strategy.  You can read about it here and here.

Having read what she has to say, I went out today and took a large batch of photographs.  Some are from the area shown below in the blue box - the red arrow is pointing at Angela D'Amore's electoral office.  The rest are from various locations around the Drummoyne electorate.

One vandalised sub-station - near the Gladesville Bridge.  Note that I had Energy Australia repaint this not long ago.  This was in pristine condition a few weeks ago.

Graffiti along the approaches to the Gladesville Bridge, taken from the southern side.  This is what motorists see as they drive along Victoria Road, one of Sydney's busiest roads, and I presume it helps them form a view of what Drummoyne is like.

A second vandalised substation.  Note that this was repainted in the last month - graffiti is already re-appearing.  Also located in Drummoyne.

The single example of some legal spray can art in Drummoyne that I know of.  This is next to the DMC medical centre on Victoria Road.

The outside wall of the Laing + Simmons real estate office in Drummoyne - the block next door has been demolished, and the wall has been taken over by graffiti.  Would you rent from a real estate agent that let their own property get like this?

A Sydney Water box of some sort, outside the Drummoyne Public School - I don't think this sends the best message to young kids.

Sydney Water has a good online reporting system here.  It even allows you to upload photos or documents (I have uploaded the photo above to illustrate the problem) and it provides a reference number once you finished loading the form.  The reference number in this case is 080709-000016.  It is the best web reporting system that I have used to date.

The back of the Five Dock Bowling Club.  The club does not have an email address - I'll  have to ring them on 9712 3303 and ask them to clean it up.

An electrical substation in Five Dock - on Barnstaple Road.

A control box of some sort out the front of the same substation.  Note the graffiti on the fence in the left rear background.

RTA traffic control box 2764, in Russell Lea.  The RTA has recently cleaned up many of these boxes around Five Dock, but there are some that are still in this condition.  It's not that long ago that almost every single one of them looked like this.

An Australia Post letterbox just next to the above RTA control box.

Yet another vandalised substation, which was recently painted.

And another vandalised substation - I think this was in Pine Ave, Russell Lea.

Notice how even the "danger" sign has been defaced at some point.

Yet another vandalised substation.  How many is that now?  Just remember that I had Energy Australia repaint all their substations in the inner west not that long ago.

Some graffiti on the wall of a doctor's surgery in Five Dock.  This surgery is on a corner.  If you take the road to the right at this point and walk down it for about 100 metres, you will walk straight into the front door of Angela's office.

Graffiti around a construction site - this is on Great North Road at Fred Kelly Place - the heart of the Five Dock shopping area.

From the spot where I took the above photo, you can just see Angela D'Amore's electoral office down the hill (yellow arrow).  It is maybe 150 metres from this point.

Angela's office - note the funeral parlor to the left.

Graffiti at the rear of the White Lady funeral parlor - the entire wall facing the road to the left has also been vandalised and painted over recently.  I've also emailed this particular White Lady branch to ask them to clean up this mess, letting them know that it doesn't reflect well upon their business.  

Update - I got a good response from the Regional Manager of White Lady.  She said that they are demolishing and replacing the fence at the back, and they have repeatedly painted the side wall.  She seemed a bit frustrated at the cost of constantly repainting the wall, so I pointed her at the Canada Bay Council graffiti removal service.  I hope they find it to be useful and cost effective.

A shelter at the side of a shop opposite Angela's office.  As you can see by the "wet paint" signs, it was repainted today.  This has been a badly vandalised eyesore for months.

The Council parking lot at the corner of Waterview St and Second Avenue.  This is about 100 metres from Angela's office, and it too has been a vandalised eyesore for months, if not years.  I've asked the Council to clean this up previously, but it's a big job.  The least I could do today was to contact Bottlemart and ask them to clean up the back of their shop.

Update - I got this response from Bottlemart:

The Five Dock Hotel is a member of our marketing group Bottlemart; we do not run or have an ownership of this or any other of our hotels. I will notify the area Manager that looks after this venue and make a suggestion that they resolve this matter.

I've also pointed them at the Council graffiti removal service.

The back of some shops, just off the same car park.

The back of the ANZ bank, just off the car park.  The ANZ has a rather hopeless online reporting system - the best they can do is offer an email address of "yourfeedback@anz.com".  I've attached the photo below and sent it to them, asking them to clean this mess up.  We'll see what happens.

The side of the National Australia Bank - Angela's office is just down the path to the right.  

The red arrow is pointing at the Five Dock Police Station.

To quote Angela in the Northern Times: 

"Police are also working to identify graffiti hot spots and increase surveillance and enforcement."

I should point out that when I was walking around Five Dock yesterday, I did see two Police Officers also walking the streets.  I doubt they were doing a patrol though - I'm told that this station is only used by Highway Patrol staff, so they probably don't do "general duties" tasks like walking a beat and so on.  I think they were out getting lunch, or a coffee.

Another defaced RTA traffic control box - the yellow arrow is pointing at Angela's office.

Graffiti opposite the Five Dock council library - just off Fred Kelly Place.  Again, a short walk from Angela's office.

Same location, different business.

Same area again.

Also opposite the library.  I have driven past this spot and seen Angela standing on the footpath chatting to patrons at the cafe just to the right of this photo.  

Make up your own mind.  Does this ring true:

Ms D'Amore told Parliament the government already had a comprehensive plan for dealing with the problem.

This included tough laws to deter vandals; restricting access to spray-paint cans and fines for their sale to juveniles; and establishing an anti-graffiti action team.