Melbourne is embracing 24/7 cleaning and graffiti removal thanks to an innovative new cleaning contract – ensuring the city will always be looking its best for residents, workers and visitors.
Under the new Clean City Services contract, the City of Melbourne will prioritise the removal of offensive graffiti, cut down response times to one hour from the current two hours, and monitor graffiti hotspots daily. It kicked off on 1 April 2024.
Outgoing Lord Mayor Sally Capp said the City of Melbourne had more than doubled its investment in clean city services compared to 10 years ago – spending $97 million between 2021 and 2024.
“We’re supercharging our cleaning efforts like never before – with boots on the ground 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Ms Capp said.
“A clean city is one our residents, traders and city workers can be proud of, which is why we’ve tripled our investment in cleaning services over the past four years.
“We know the best deterrent to crack down on repeat offenders is to remove graffiti as soon as possible. That’s why we’re taking our services to the next level to ensure our city is always looking its best.”
To keep Melbourne’s iconic laneways sparkling, targeted hotspot pressure washing will be improved in the busiest laneways – jumping from five days a week to daily.
The City of Melbourne is also ramping up its electric vehicle fleet service, tripling the current service to six vehicles so crews can get to reported areas immediately.
Council has set stronger environmental targets for the new service -– reducing emissions, increasing non-potable water usage, and diverting more waste from landfill.
It is estimated the new contract will reduce annual fuel consumption by more than 100,000 litres – the equivalent of 265 tonnes of greenhouse emissions saved per year.
In the past year, more than 112,000m2 of graffiti – the equivalent to five MCGs’ worth – was removed and 1568 tonnes of dumped rubbish were collected – 32 per cent more than the previous year.
The City of Melbourne has tripled its investment in clean city services over the past four years – spending $97 million between 2021 and 2024.
The Clean City Services contract, shared by Spotless and Calcorp, will run for five years with the option to extend for a further five years.
