Auckland City Graffifi ‘Far Bigger Problem’ Than Signs And Billboards ‘Clutter’

The $5 million Auckland City Council is spending on its flawed campaign to reform signs and billboards bylaws would be better spent getting rid of the widespread graffiti around the city.

Presenting to the Council’s signs and billboards hearing, Michael Barnett, Auckland Chamber of Commerce chief executive, estimated that the 1750 groups who had bothered to make submissions had spent around $10 million to date “and all the signs are that the charade and battle has a long way yet to go.”

Many submitters agreed that the City needed to raise standards, get rid of illegal signs and improve the visual appearance of the City. “But the way the City is trying to do this by imposing a solution that is impractical, costly and without adequate consultation and enforcement is doomed to failure.”

The goodwill of the advertising industry and business mainstreet organisations could have been tapped at the front end of the review to help address concerns that exist on signs and billboards – which in fact are few in number compared to the huge amount of graffiti that daubs the City. “Where is the City’s zeal and campaign on this?”

He pointed out that whereas the City had a complaints service dedicated to graffiti, over the last three years barely 150 complaints had been received about business signs and hardly any on billboards. The wholesale change proposed to bylaws was out of proportion to the size of the problem and a huge waste of time and resources.

“We have an opportunity to learn from this misguided strategy: To manage a modern City – a City with a shared belief in a world-class future - taking the big stick to stakeholders – the old fashioned “them versus us” approach - is fruitless and counter productive.”

The single recommendation the hearings panel should make is that Council and representatives of the industry and stakeholder groups sit down together to seek a consensus. “Pick up the offer to get a working party together and get it sorted.”

ENDS

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