Toronto is Proud to be a Tidy Town

Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood Group (TASNG) continues to work towards a cleaner, safer, sustainable and more welcoming town. Chair, Steve Dewer, filed this report.

We are currently seeking grant funding to deliver a mural in the alleyway between The Boulevarde and ALDI, a space frequently targeted by graffiti. This mural forms part of the broader anti-graffiti campaign and our efforts to lift the image of Toronto for residents and visitors alike.

TASNG is grateful for the support of local businesses who share this vision. Sam and his team at Simply Pharmacy have supported the creation of a mural, painted by First Nations artists, that has cultural imagery. Eagles honour the traditional homeland of the Awabakal people, while turtles symbolise the wellbeing of land and lake, representing endurance and resilience within the community. It is a powerful statement, and a vast improvement on the graffiti previously covering the walls of the well-used lane.

Prompt removal of graffiti remains one of the most effective deterrents to the damage it causes. Friths Properties have demonstrated this by quickly removing it from their premises. Thank you Friths Properties.

Beyond the mural project, we continue hands-on work across the area. Over Christmas, volunters collected rubbish along Main Road from Fennell Bay to Woodrising. Clean-up efforts continued at Toronto Lions Park for Clean Up Australia Day.

As a Landcare group, we are actively restoring a remnant wetland at the southern end of Fennell Bay Bridge and another project involves maintaining the Toronto West Garden on Awaba Road, creating a welcoming entry to Awabakal Country.

TASNG are also keen to encourage Council to progress the Toronto Foreshore Plan and will keep advicating to improve safety along The Boulevarde, by painting of the wheelstops.

TASNG meets at 4.30pm on the second Wednesday of each month at the Toronto Hub. New members are welcome.

Toronto Area Sustainable Neighbourhood News

An update from the TASNG Chair -Steve Dewar

The TASNG team have been very active over the past few months, helping out around our community!

We have tackled the graffiti on the wall of Toronto Dentists and are looking into an aboriginal mural for the space!

We have mounted a campaign to get McDonald’s to have recycling bins and recycling labels on drive-through and delivery meals.

We hosted a stall at the Wellbeing and Health Festival recently held at the Toronto Foreshore. We are supporting Biraban Land Council to get a Toronto Foreshore Biraban/Threlkeld Memorial.

We are clearing the invasive species from the Endangered Ecological Community at ‘Crocodile Point’, adjacent to Fennell Bay Bridge.

Finally, congratulations to Woolworths for getting rid of the 15 cent plastic bags. We are monitoring other shops that are still giving out single use plastic bags. Compostable or biodegradable plastic bags still take years to break down!

Graffiti Blasters - Joanne Schumacher

To help in tackling graffiti around town TASNG have commenced an Anti-Graffiti Campaign, promoting the importance of a graffiti-free neighbourhood. Graffiti is costly to a business’ presence, is destructive to property & sends a message that the community is not concerned about its neighbourhood.

A community meeting highlighted that individuals and local businesses were concerned and active in keeping our neighbourhood graffiti free by removing graffiti quickly, helping in maintaining a safe, secure & attractive environment.

For more information about graffiti removal supplies contact our local businesses, The Paint Place and Mitre 10.

TASNG Update February 2023

GRAFFITI VANDALISM 

Report, Remove, Prevent

Ever wondered what you can do about unwanted graffiti? In November a TASNG community discussion session came up with these actions.

Report

• Report graffiti you find on your property, community buildings & facilities like bus stops & benches and another person’s property to: Service NSW Graffiti Hotline 1800 707 125 and/or NSW Police Force Community Portal on-line,
• Take photos of the graffiti to attach to your report

Remove

• Cleaning up graffiti quickly is the best way to stop more graffiti; the perpetrator is less likely to do it again if it’s only there for a short time
• Contact Council for information on the Graffiti Hotspot Program

Prevent

You can help stop people doing graffiti on your property by:

• Putting up night lighting & CCTV security camera so people doing the wrong thing can be seen and reported
• Cleaning up graffiti as soon as possible
• Planting hedges or climbing vines so it’s harder for people to reach your walls

Boomerang Bags

Join the volunteers of TASNG for a social sewing morning at the Toronto Library’s “Make and Mend Space”. We’ll be making bags from rescued fabric to share with others.

At the first meeting, Saturday 11th February,9:15-11:30am, we’ll discuss bag patterns and the distribution of bags in the community.

Rescued fabric and sewing machines will be provided, however any donations of material are appreciated.

The Boomerang Bag days are the second Saturday of the month: 11/2/23, 11/3/23, 13/5/23, 10/6/23, 8/7/23

Register to attend any of the events.

Pamper Care

Pamper Care has been helping those in need in the 2283/2284 postcode area, with pantry food and personal care items since 2017. So far this year 15 local people have sought food relief from the pantry.

You can donate personal care and pantry products at the Woodrising Neighbourhood Centre, 80 Haydenbrook Drive, Woodrising Monday-Friday.

TASNG Update – Steve Dewar - Chair

Outcomes of the Graffiti community meeting held on 9 November included an anti-graffiti campaign commencing 2023 possibly involving murals by High School students and by the Awabakal aboriginal group and the 1st graffiti removal success from the wall of the Toronthai restaurant. This is a great initiative by one of our members Joanna Rees.

The Awabakal aboriginal group is keen that more prominence is given to the historic, unique connection between Reverend Thelkeld, soon to be seen as an SBS Documentary, at the Toronto Foreshore redevelopment. We can support them in their efforts.

One of our biggest projects is the Landcare site opposite Lions Park at Fennell Bay bridge, nicknamed “Crocodile Point”, led by Lois Simpson. We have cleared many invasive weeds so far! The group meets on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday 8:30-10am

We have also held initial discussions with the franchisee and manager of Toronto McDonalds to run a campaign on recycling fast food material, particularly home delivery material by Menulog. Also, we have had discussions with Stanley Tang, head of sustainability for Costco, Australia and New Zealand, about similar issues of recycling and over-packaging. Hopefully, a campaign to educate the public about recycling at these 2 venues can occur next year!

Graffiti in Toronto

TASNG have organised a guest speaker to facilitate a community discussion on Graffiti in Toronto for their November monthly meeting.

Constable Sharmala Whitehead of NSW Police will give a talk on the measures available to address unwanted graffiti and following on will be a Q & A session to discuss solutions and options.

Anyone who has been impacted by unwanted graffiti and community groups interested in helping to address the issue are encouraged to attend.

Wednesday 9 November, 5:30-6:30pm, The Hub 97 The Boulevarde. All Welcome.

Graffiti in Toronto

At the recent TASNG meeting a conversation started about the proliferation of unsightly graffiti around Toronto and what can be done about it.

One of the problems with unwanted urban art for residents and small businesses, is the malicious property damage, which is expensive to remove and leaves victims feeling angry and powerless.

Graffiti has historically been addressed locally with painting over or cleaning surfaces and there have also been some very successful and colourful murals created by urban artists at Eddie’s corner, the Woollies carpark and the Coal Point Water tank.

An organisation called Vandal-trak has a free app and a graffiti register which provides a way to record, report and share graffiti. The information is collated and shared with police and councils to provide a holistic view on the scale and the scope of the local problem across all public and private assets and buildings. 

The Vandal Trak app is available through App stores and https://www.vandaltrak.com/graffiti-register/

http://www.vandaltrak.com.au/

http://www.vandaltrak.com.au/
A new system for dealing with Graffiti has been launched. It requires registration to log an incident but allows the general public to report and monitor incident progress through cleaning and prosecution.

Graffiti is a significant issue within many local government areas reducing the value and image of our communities & neighbourhoods. 

The VandalTrak system aims to log, track and manage Graffiti incidents in one place.
It's your community. Report graffiti vandalism with VandalTrak, so together we can assist authorities to bring those responsible to justice.