IN a positive sign for the community, dozens of people contributed to the removal of graffiti last month.
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Those of all ages lent a hand to help replace tags and other types of graffiti with murals, much to the delight of residents in the chosen areas.
The wall on Harvey Norman's loading dock was the focus in 2019, which was good news for locals on Wollybutt Way who now have an aesthetically pleasing sight to look at.
On Sunday, October 27, about 30 volunteers of all backgrounds got to work and helped deal with the issue.
Police led the charge locally for National Graffiti Removal Day, and were helped by Muswellbrook Shire Council staff and students from Muswellbrook Public and Muswellbrook South Public schools, although Senior Constable Sheree Gray said others chipped in.
"We even had a gentleman from the Calvary retirement centre who came over and painted a little bit as well," she said.
"We had parents and other community members come, and everyone really threw themselves into it on the day and the outcome is just fantastic."
One man who certainly was pleased with the end product was Harvey Norman Electrical proprietor Jim Flampoulidis, who gave his take on the freshly-painted wall.
"It's fantastic not only for our customers who come and collect goods and so forth, but the staff think it's great and even the community who pass by think it's fantastic as well," he said.
One of the people most heavily-involved in the project was Muswellbrook Shire Council's graffiti officer Ryan Derrington, who added the finishing touches to the mural.
He said it was a good opportunity to get rid of the eye-sores without all of the usual red tape that prevents them from entering non-council properties.
"It was quite a successful year, graffiti has gotten down quite low due to some council programs and help from the police as well," he added.
"This mural has been put in an area where we still had quite some activity, but through the council policy there wasn't a lot we could do about this.
"But, the centre approached us to paint a mural and we came up with this design in consultation with them and also made it achievable for young children to paint."
