Springwood
Hurleys Butchery Mural Enlivens Springwood
S.O.S. members spent part of their weekend assisting with the Hurleys Butchery mural in Macquarie Street, Springwood. The street art project celebrating Hurleys Butchery emerged after Christine Moalem and Narelle Halse (pictured right) from Save Our Springwood attended the BMCC graffiti summit held last year.
There is evidence that suggests that street art reduces the incidents of "tagging" and so the idea was hatched to celebrate Hurleys, one of the oldest surviving businesses in Springwood, and combat graffiti at the same time.
After discussions with Colin Geddes the current proprietor of Hurleys (pictured right) and the Springwood Chamber of Commerce who both gave the project their full support, Jarrod Wheatley from BMSAC was approached to commence work on the design.
Photos of the original store and meat delivery truck were provided originally to Colin by Molly Hurley and these were used by Jarrod and his team to develop the concept.
The paint used for street art is expensive and Blue Mountains City Council agreed to assist in the funding of the project as an anti graffiti initiative after being approached by Councillor Brendan Luchetti.
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It is hoped that funds can be raised to do more murals celebrating Springwood.
Foundation Day celebrates Springwood's Village Character
S.O.S. members joined in the celebrations at Springwood's Annual Foundation Day, staffing a stall and handing out leaflets. Read more here and view some photos of the day in a slideshow.Graffiti Summit
Blaxland was the venue for a recent summit on the problem of graffiti
S.O.S. recently attended the Graffiti Summit held at Blaxland on the 12 September 2009. It was informative and well run and we gained some more insight into the difficulties faced by Blue Mountains City Council in their efforts to combat graffiti in the mountains.
The following points were highlighted during the summit:
- Katoomba, Springwood, Blaxland and Winmalee were identified as having the highest incidents of graffiti in that order.
- Peak periods are Dec/Jan school holidays.
- Cost to BMCC: $271,951 p.a, which is a two man team plus equipment.
- Surprisingly 18-25 year olds are the worst offenders.
- Trial community volunteer graffiti removal teams.
The Katoomba volunteer trial is up and running and appears successfully run by Tom Colless.
Volunteer trial programmes are to be introduced in Blaxland and Winmalee. The cost is $10,000 for the equipment and then $2000 for volunteers insurance.
When asked why Springwood was not included in the trial if the incident rate was the second highest of the identified towns, Alan Cattermole, Manager, Assets & Contract Management, was unable to give a satisfactory answer.
Alison McLaren advised that the decision was made by her based on the numerous complaints about graffiti she receives from Winmalee residents. She stated that at the time she made the decision the figures were not in front of her. It is hoped that the Winmalee trial could be expanded at some stage to include Springwood.
Council's graffiti removal policy
Council removes graffiti from all property owned and managed by the Council. Council's current practices for removal of graffiti are:- Offensive graffiti - within 24 hours
- General graffiti - within 72 hours
- Non-offensive isolated graffiti - within five days
BMSAC - Blue Mountains Street Art Collaborative
BMSAC is run by Jarrod Wheatley and Nick Margerison, Mountains Youth Services Team. BMSAC is a funded project of http://www.myst.com.au. Mountains Youth Services Team Inc (MYST)
Staff at MYST facilitate BMSAC by acting as a link between the community and young artists.
Government and non-government agencies, business and local residences can contact BMSAC where they have a need or desire to produce a artworks and murals using aerosol art. Patrons cover the cost of paint while BMSAC supplies artists, insurance and assurance.
The overall feeling of the meeting and the result of surveys done is that most people resent the tags (initials, nicknames usually sprayed in black) but don’t mind street art (murals, scenes, portraits showing some artistic merit). There are indications that "taggers" won't tag a wall with street art on it as it is considered disrespectful, therefore one way of defeating the graffiti issue is by using street art on appropriate walls.
Jarrod and Nick work to co-ordinate both the artists and the company/organisation, who are commissioning the mural. This has proved relatively successful and these young people have done some amazing work at places like Pinaroo, Blackheath Rural Fire Service and the charity clothes bins in Springwood Avenue, Springwood.
You can see more examples of their work on the website - http://www.bmsac.org.au.
S.O.S. condemns neglect of Springwood
Save Our Springwood Vice Chairperson, Narelle Halse, has deplored the poor level of garden maintenance in the Springwood town centre. In a letter to the editor of the Gazette, Ms Halse writes:
We have a group of volunteers who have already proved their commitment to Springwood all prepared to garden for free to make the town more attractive to residents and tourists but we can't seem to get any co-operation or assistance from council. Why?
Is there perhaps a reason why council only cares for the main street and leaves the contentious areas in the Springwood Town Centre Revitalisation plan looking untidy, dirty and uncared for?
Is it perhaps so they can say these areas could only be improved by selling out to PPPs (Public Private Partnerships) - a deal some councillors would like to make with Woolworths or Coles?
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S.O.S. and Clean Up Australia
On Sunday 1st March 2009 members of Save Our Springwood took part in the annual Clean Up Australia day. A considerable amount of rubbish was collected in the town centre and some of the grafitti in the shopping centre was also removed. Many residents stopped to express appreciation for the activities of S.O.S.
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