Torbay

[scoobydooby]

I've just come back from spending a couple of nights in Torquay. We had a great time and simply chilled to recharge batteries ready to go back to work on Monday. However, I was a little disappointed that it wasn't as clean and tidy as I would have expected. For example, there are clearly a number of not-so-good graffiti artists in the area. Anyone a local to the area - what do you think? Parking charges are very high and I should imagine Torbay Council make a fair bit of money from tourism.....so why not get rid of all the graffiti? I'd be cleaning it myself if I lived there!

[vehelpfulguy]

I think English seaside towns have two problems.

First is the short holiday seasons in the UK. Although they can be busy June/July/August the rest of the year they can be fairly quiet. This means that money they take in during the high season has to pay for the other 9 months when it is quiet.

Second, many seaside towns have a high proportion of older people. This means that the money needed to pay for social care is higher than in say a city where the range of ages is greater.

And of course these older people who live in seaside towns may well pay less council tax as they are over 65 or living alone, and maybe also spend less when they do go out as they need less food and entertainment.

So I think many English seaside towns are not a rich as maybe we think they are.

Also of course the battering of the sea means that buildings near the sea, and structures like a prom or harbour, need regular and costly maintenance.

It is shame that morons do paint graffitti in seaside towns because all it does is make the town look worse, and maybe stops people going back there so gives them less chance of finding a job.

I bet Torbay council get sick to death of clearing graffiti off walls, it is probably a full time occupation.

[loonytunes]

As a local resident I can echo those comments and sentiments. Regrettably, visitors seem to think that poor appearance and grafitti they see is all the work of locals. In many cases, the visitors seem to think that by paying for a week in a caravan, they have the right to litter, deface, steal and generally mess up anything they see whilst on holiday Resources in this very deprived area (low wages are the norm and ignored by central government) are a real issue. The Council has an anti grafitti squad which does clean up but resources are not unlimited. We get just as many comments about the flowers on the sea front not being "as good as last year". We have flying squads who do nothing else all day but empty bins but that doesn't stop people throwing their chip wrappings down anywhere. When money is spent, there have to be priorities and cuts have to be made somewhere. Much Council money is spent on social services issues, particularly people who come here from all over the country with problem kids and live on social security because of the location. So it is not unusual for one child to have over �1million spent on them to deal with the problems they provide. Compard to other areas, parking is not expensive and we have still not gone over to charging people to park on the street which is the case with many other resorts.

Finally, we would love to clean up the grafitti ourselves but it requires chemicals which are not freely available as kids could get it to sniff and get high.

[scoobydooby]

I hope I didn't sound too critical. We did enjoy our short break but I just felt that it was a shame for the people who live there. After all, we came home after a couple of days! I think it's sad that the mess is being made by tourists, and completely unfair. I do understand about the removal of most of the graffiti. However, there was one small piece on a cream wall at the front of a property. I should imagine the wall belonged to the owners of the house. Personally, If it were my house, as soon as I noticed it, I would want to paint over it (just in the same way that if a cat has ripped open a bin bag in my garden, I'd have to deal with it before anything else). Torbay is such a lovely place but Bournemouth/Swanage/Weymouth don't appear to have the same problem. Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places.

[loonytunes]

I didn't think you were being critical, your post was well balanced. It is possible that the property concerned did not have its grafitti removed because of absent owners. Many properties in the area have been bought by people who use them as second homes so visit every few months or so. Or it could have been owned by a company or landlord who did not live locally. The Council is not permitted to remove grafiiti on private property. Absent owners are yet another burden for those who live in tourist aeas.

[Curry King]

I am a local and we get a problem with riff raff coming here every weekend. Hens & Stags. They do get drunk and make this place messy. I am not staying they spray grafiti but somebody broke most of the newly planted trees on Belgrave road recently. It could of been local people but I have seen the gangs of hens and stag weekenders well drunk and disorderly at the weekend. Matching silly wigs and brides of Frankenstein. Some tried to start a fight with us not long ago for no reason and peeing off the harbour into the sea is not very gentlemanly, especially only early evening time. The beach is left littered. The council has or did have a freephone number to clean up any grafiti reported. Parking is free on the seafront for 3 hours at the moment if you are lucky to get a space. Unfortunately, the spaces are usually gone.