Some of Auckland's worst taggers are having to paint over their own graffiti on the walls of Waitakere City's rail corridor.
A ground-breaking pilot programme has been launched to clean-up Auckland graffiti hotspots and offenders serving community work sentences are doing the work.
Waitakere City Council, ONTRACK, the Department of Corrections and the Auckland Region Graffiti Free (ARGF) project have joined forces to rid a busy three-kilometre stretch of rail corridor through Henderson of graffiti.
Managed by the council's Safe Waitakere unit, the project has Community Work teams clearing the area of rubbish, painting out graffiti with recycled paint and helping with landscaping.
The offenders involved have been ordered by the Courts to complete reparation sentences - some of them for graffiti offences.
Due to safety hazards attached to working in a rail corridor, the Waitakere City Council and ONTRACK developed a comprehensive plan to ensure the workers and supervisors are safe.
Community work offenders provided 2.9 million hours of unpaid labour in 2007/08 to assist with community projects across New Zealand.
Department of Corrections' Waitakere Service Manager, Karl Bethell says offenders working on the railway project are learning useful skills such as health and safety, use of personal protective equipment, team building, punctuality and gardening.
It's a win-win for all parties, he says.
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ISSN 1178-8453