General News
24 May, 2023
Mitre 10 throws lifeline to businesses
BUSINESSES will now be able to cover-up vulgar and disrespectful graffiti that has been plastered on their storefronts for free, courtesy of local hardware store Sunshine Mitre 10.
Storefronts, amenities and other buildings throughout Mareeba’s businesses sector have been relentlessly targeted by vandals for several years now with a few standouts being the QCWA toilets, the adjacent old Telstra building, Northern Auto Electrical and the old Performance Motors building.
Businesses are then forced to dig into their pockets to purchase the paint needed to cover over the graffiti which can be left up for weeks at a time, however Sunshine Mitre 10 has stepped up to help and Mareeba Shire Council has also begun exploring options to help in the fight.
The company is now offering four litres of Accent exterior paint to businesses completely free to cover up vandalism as long as they provide a photo of the graffiti, their ABN and a swatch of the colour needed.
Originally the paint was going to be offered at cost price however Mitre 10 has since decided to go one step further and provide the paint free of charge.
Mareeba manager Trevor Abberley said it was important to cover over graffiti as soon as possible to keep Mareeba’s main street presentable and welcoming to visitors.
“We are willing to provide the paint at no cost to the businesses whatsoever,” he said.
“I have spoken to the head office and they have agreed to take the cost on to help the community and ensure we can combat graffiti.
“All the businesses have to do is provide a photograph of the graffiti, their ABN number and the colour of the paint.
“We are the biggest independent hardware group in the country and we want to support our local community and this is what we are willing to do.”
Mr Abberley believes it is important to remove the graffiti as they often include rude, offensive and vulgar depictions or words but they also detract from the town’s appearance and its attractiveness to visitors.
“We are here to support the local community and businesses and we feel it will help brighten up our town,” he said.
“There is nothing worse than driving past and seeing graffiti on the side of a local business, it is just horrible and not welcoming.”
Mareeba Crime Action Group spokesperson Denis McKinley said the most important step to take when removing graffiti was to paint over it as soon as possible.
Mr McKinley believes the new initiative by Sunshine Mitre 10 is wonderful and “a step in the right direction” however more initiatives need to be established to target the root causes of the issue.
“We have got to get people on the ground to do the work and we need the businesses onside to remove the graffiti as soon as they become aware of it,” he said.
“We need to clean up the image of the town.”
Mareeba Chamber of Commerce president Joe Moro is imploring businesses to get on board with the new initiative and inform the chamber when they are targeted by vandals.
“The scary part is not enough businesses are telling us about vandalism and maybe it is just vandalism but that is why this initiative is very important,” he said.
“If you have vandalism or graffiti on your walls, you should notify the chamber and utilise the initiative created by Mitre 10 which we thank them for.”
Mareeba Shire Council is waiting on a report due to be presented at its June meeting where councillors will discuss ways to combat vandalism and is considering adopting a similar program as Townsville City Council.
Townsville provides free graffiti removal kits to individuals, businesses and community groups through a voucher system however there are no concrete plans to introduce the same system in Mareeba.
Cr Lenore Wyatt has congratulated all those involved in the new initiative for coming together as a community against vandalism.
“We will work with them to put this information into the report because if we, as a full community, can come together to combat this issue that would be great,” she said.
“It is a whole community issue.”
