Wagga is often slammed for not being a progressive city.
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From geography to lacklustre policy and everything in between, the regional centre cops it from all angles.
But as soon as something is done in an attempt to make the city more attractive, some of its residents can’t wait to tear that tall poppy down.
The tagging of the $14,500 mural on the water reservoir at the top of Willans Hill is a prime example.
The paint was barely dry on the city’s largest mural before disrespectful dissidents got their spray cans out and covered parts of it with ugly graffiti.
The mural’s artist – Trina Collins – spent days completing the beautification of what was an otherwise boring blank canvas, and now, around two months after finishing, is at a loss to comprehend why someone would deface her gift to Wagga.
She has called on Wagga City Council to decriminalise graffiti on one wall in the city to give vandals a creative outlet – but will that stop them?
The very fact they are destroying something and causing a reaction in the community is why vandals do what they do in the first place.
The defacing of the mural is only the latest in a spate of graffiti attacks across the city and measures need to be taken to discourage the anti-social activity.
Some councils around the country have enacted task forces – able to whip into action almost as soon as the vandalism has taken place. Others have tried to work with perpetrators to channel their creativity in a more positive light – all with varying levels of success.
Wagga needs its younger residents to grow up with a sense of civic pride in the neighbourhood they live in.
If young children are in an environment where they are bored with nothing of significance on offer to them within the city, then they will find outlets that are not acceptable within most people’s view of society.
Vandalism is a symptom of a bigger problem.
Young people are not engaged with their community.
The internet and social media have been a revolution in how we communicate with the world, but it is coming at the cost of relationships on a smaller scale.
We need to go back to loving thy neighbour.