CEREDIGION council will consider “long-term” solutions for a graffiti hotspot in Aberystwyth including turning it into a community arts centre or café kiosk after hundreds of pounds were spent cleaning up offensive paint.

As reported in the Cambrian News last week, the Côr Y Castell shelter at Aberystwyth castle was daubed with inartistic graffiti featuring multiple swear words, comments on legalising drugs, conspiracy theories and drawings of genitalia on the white-washed walls.

Local councillor Endaf Edwards said the area was a “regular target for graffiti” and said that Ceredigion council “need to look at ways to prevent it”, including keeping the area “clean and tidy” to deter vandals.

The council has told the Cambrian News this week that after having to paint over the graffiti last Friday “due to the offensive nature of the graffiti”, the authority “will need to consider the best way to address this area in the long term”.

“Through either a community arts scheme or converting it to a kiosk that brought the shelter back to life as a place to enjoy a cup of tea and sit to admire the view across the bay,” the spokesperson said.

The council also asked for people with suggestions for what to do with the area to get in touch.

Elsewhere, Cllr Ceredig Davies – who alerted the council to the obscene graffiti at the castle to get it removed – said that other areas of graffiti on council-owned property have still yet to be removed despite him asking, and that leaving graffiti at the height of the summer holiday season “gives the impression that we have no pride in our town”.

Ceredigion council said that while it is “very disappointing to see graffiti around town especially at a time when budgets are scarce for dealing with this type of antisocial behaviour”, graffiti will mostly only be removed during regular maintenance and not when it appears.

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