Rotary Club of Yamba members (l-r) Don Shephard, John McKenny, Garry Arnnetts, Sandy Hovie and Rick Angelo paint over graffiti at Yamba Cinema. Image: Contributed

Geoff Helisma Yamba Rotary members have spent several weekends (November 5 and 12) painting over graffiti in Yamba – and it inspired one resident, Marlene Woodbridge, to let the Independent know how much she appreciates their efforts. “Last Sunday I drove past the corner of The Mainbrace and Shores Drive bus shelter and came across [a] band of workers, repainting the inside of the shelter to cover up the ugly graffiti that was sprayed on the walls,” she wrote in an email. “Good on you guys and ladies of Rotary. We all appreciate you giving up your Sunday to do this volunteer work for the community. Well done.” Speaking on behalf of the club, Gayle Doe said it was “something that comes up every year”. “We’re lucky we didn’t have too much in Yamba,” she said. “There were a couple of bus shelters, the wall of Yamba Cinema and toilets at Yamba oval.” Graffiti Removal Day’s official date was November 29 and the aim, according to its website, “is to highlight the problem of graffiti across NSW and encourage people to volunteer to remove and prevent graffiti. “Graffiti vandalism costs the NSW Government and residents more than $300 million every year….” The event began in 2012, and volunteer numbers grew from 597 to 1,503 by 2016. Overall, volunteers removed roughly 90,000sqm of graffiti before this year’s event, which the website states has saved about $6.7million “for private owners and the government”.