Mr Barby told The Courier last week that he believed Ballarat’s ongoing graffiti problem was one of the worst in regional Victoria and Cr Hudson said it will take a whole-community approach to address the problem.

Speaking from a council perspective and as the chairperson of the Community Safety Committee, Cr Hudson said “we need to grow a voice” when it comes to resolving graffiti in Ballarat.

“When members of the public catch people in the act, council’s response is that they should be reporting it to the police straight away,” he said.

“I would suggest to do so by phoning 000 because it is happening then and there and that will give police the best chance to respond as quickly as possible.

“When people are brazen enough to be doing this type of thing in the middle of the day they deserve to be caught and dobbed in.

“We encourage the community to take a stand and say this is not what our community accepts. We don’t want our buildings looking like they are in a state of disrepair.”

Cr Hudson echoed Mr Barby’s sentiments that the best place to start in the war against vandalism is to remove the graffiti immediately.

“Rapid removal is very important,” he said.

“We are regularly out removing graffiti from council’s assets and I encourage public to be doing the same if their property or business is tagged.”

Ballarat Police have run successful anti-graffiti operations in the past such as Operation Centaur in 2011.

Cr Hudson said the Community Safety Committee have also looked at a number of different initiatives to combat graffiti.

“This issue regularly challenges us,” he said.

“Things such as public art is a strategy of taking away their blank canvases, but there are also other grants available which community groups can apply for through council.”

A new graffiti removal trailer, made possible by a Victorian Government grant, was launch in Buninyong last week.