BY DAKOTA TAIT
Newcastle businesses have hit back at a graffiti clean-up effort over the weekend, saying the work was done without permission.
A team of more than 100 volunteers, including Knights players, took to CBD streets on Saturday and Sunday in a working bee to clean-up graffiti.
Former Lord Mayor Jeff McCloy initiated the campaign, claiming the City of Newcastle hadn't responded to his concerns about an alleged uptick in vandalism in the city centre.
But Hunter Street's Ka-fey Cafe took to social media to complain about the cover-up, describing the black paint job as "pretty terrible".
The owners of Antijojos, a Mexican street food restaurant on Steel Street, also complained to the Council about the paint job on their formerly graffiti-adorned roller doors.
The McCloy Group said it would contribute to the costs of a future mural after earning backlash from Playstate Curate, a Union Street art gallery, when a wall intended for the art project was also painted over.
City of Newcastle CEO Jeremy Bath has slammed the clean-up campaign, saying without permission, the anti-graffiti efforts were unacceptable.
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| Image credit: McCloy Group |
