Despairing about the graffiti epidemic infecting Wagga, Mount Austin resident Cindy James on Friday picked up the lids of four tins of spray paint used to deface the hall.

Mrs James is angry government authorities are not taking action on graffiti and wants a community-wide response to the problem.

Her frustration stems from the Department of Housing – which she says owns the old hall – dragging its feet on her complaints about the condition of the building.

“Nothing has been done,” Mrs James wrote in a letter to The Daily Advertiser.

“The graffiti, all over the brick work and much worse than what is is on the (Tarcutta Street railway) underpass, was reported to the Department of Housing’s general maintenance line months ago,” Mrs James wrote.

“There was no specific graffiti phone number, it just went into the queue for the general maintenance, for which I had to wait one hour on the phone to log.

“We have lived in Mount Austin for 22 years and graffiti is worse now than ever.”

Speaking before meeting the Advertiser at the eyesore, Mrs James said she thought graffiti made the area look dirty and affected the mood of locals in a negative way.

“It’s important for children to see that is not the normal environment they live in,” Mrs James said.

Mrs James said Wagga mayor Rod Kendall had said a group response was needed to beat graffiti in Wagga, so she is challenging government to at least take action on its own buildings.

“If graffiti like that remains it brings down the good name of suburbs, as well as wider Wagga,’ Mrs James wrote.

Councillor Kendall said council could not remove graffiti on property it does not own. “It’s not something we can just do, but what we can certainly do is make sure these property owners have an awareness of the graffiti and encourage them to have an active removal program,” Cr Kendall said.