Tod slams City Council for 8 month delay on "NEMEW" graffiti

10.55.00am GMT Fri 23rd Jan 2009

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, Martin Tod, has slammed the County Council for failing to remove 'NEMEW' graffiti from one of its own buildings in Andover Road, 8 months after it was daubed on in early May.

Mr Tod commented:

It's shocking that the County Council hasn't removed this unsightly graffiti from one of its own buildings more than eight months after it was originally daubed on. The NEMEW graffiti has been removed from every other building in Winchester - why is the County Council letting local people down?

It's on one of the major roads into Winchester's centre. Legally, the County Council should have removed it within 10 days or faced a Graffiti Removal Notice from the City Council.

This was a very high profile graffiti incident that got a lot of media coverage. It's astonishing that nothing has been done.

No doubt each Council will argue that the other is responsible. Either way they just need to get their act together.

I can understand graffiti might be hard to remove from such a difficult location, but to take eight months is unacceptable.

The NEMEW graffiti received a large amount of publicity at the time it was painted in 36 places across Winchester in a single night back on May 3rd, 2008.

Winchester City Council policy has legal responsibility for coordinating graffiti removal, although the responsibility for the actual removal rests with the occupant of the building itself, in this case, the County Council.

The City Council's policy on graffiti removal can be read at http://www.winchester.gov.uk/TransportAndStreets/StreetCareAndCleaning/Graffiti/