Call for action to tackle ‘wave of graffiti’ in York

Main image: Cllr Ashley Mason with graffiti at the St Helens Road railway bridge. Left, top to bottom: graffiti at Hob Moor underpass; a community noticeboard; and Thanet Road bus shelter (Image: Supplied)

CITY councillors in Dringhouses and Woodthorpe have called on Network Rail to do more to help tackle a ‘wave’ of graffiti in the area.

The area’s Liberal Democrat ward councillors say the organisation’s failure to take prompt action to remove graffiti on its property is encouraging graffiti vandals, and contributing to a ‘downward spiral of neglect’.

They say bus shelters, litter bins and telecoms cabinets have all been hit by graffiti vandals in recent weeks.

They claim the spread of graffiti in the area is partly a consequence of Network Rail’s failure to remove graffiti from the bridge on St Helen’s Road and other property, which they say is sending out the wrong message.

York Press: Cllr Ashley Mason with graffiti at the St Helens Road railway bridge

Cllr Ashley Mason with graffiti at the St Helens Road railway bridge (Image: Dringhouses and Woodthorpe Liberal Democrats)

Ward councillor Ashley Mason said the city council’s own graffiti-busting team had been hard at work trying to keep on top of the problem – and local councillors had also been out cleaning off graffiti.

But he said the fact Network Rail had failed to take action against graffiti on some of its property was sending a message to graffiti vandals that their ‘behaviour is acceptable’.

Cllr Mason said: “Despite being notified in mid-November of graffiti on the railway bridge on St Helens Road, Network Rail have yet to take action, saying that work to remove the graffiti ’will go ahead as soon as the team have the resources available and the weather is dry’.”

York Press: A graffiti-covered cabinet at the entrance to the Hob Moor underpass beneath the East Coast mainline

A graffiti-covered cabinet at the entrance to the Hob Moor underpass beneath the East Coast mainline (Image: Supplied)

Cllr Mason believes this has led to more graffiti appearing on the bridge, as ‘vandals interpret the lack of action as an invitation to carry on defacing the bridge’.

“Elsewhere in the area, Network Rail is claiming not to be responsible for a graffiti-covered cabinet at the entrance to the Hob Moor underpass, even though the cabinet is labelled as being a ‘switch heating supply cubicle’ which it is understood relates to the operation of the adjacent East Coast mainline,” Cllr Mason said.

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