In an effort to deter loitering and reduce opportunities for antisocial behaviour, a council in Victoria is piping out the likes of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries and Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons at a public toilet block in its central business district.
The move by Swan Hill Rural City Council follows a noticeable spike in property damage at the busy facilities in recent months, prompting authorities to investigate proactive and creative solutions.
The council’s infrastructure director, Leah Johnston, said the vandalism had included “toilet rolls and soap dispensers being pulled off walls, extensive graffiti, fires and toilet seats being damaged”.
“In 2023 we recorded about 10 incidents, but in 2024 we are already at 10 incidents. Therefore, we are seeing a trend that it is increasing,”
she said.
Crime data released last week showed the Swan Hill local government area reported 752 acts of property damage per 100,000 people last year.
The figure sat well above the state average of 509 incidents per 100,000 Victorians during the same reporting period.
“It is a significant cost to our ratepayers to have to go out to sites and have them repaired, due to poor behaviour of a small number of individuals,” Ms Johnston said.
The council plans to trial the classical music initiative for six months before deciding whether it is continued or potentially expanded to other crime hotspots.
Ms Johnston said although it was still early days, the scheme appeared to be working.
“Since the music has been playing, which is now in the order of three to four weeks, we have seen a dramatic reduction [in antisocial behaviour],”
she said.
Tchaikovsky on the Tube
Playing classical music in public spaces to dissuade antisocial behaviour has been a tried-and-tested strategy used around the world for decades.
London Underground authorities implemented the measure at Elm Park station on the District line in 2003 following similar schemes carried out by other UK rail operators.
During an initial 18-month trial, a significant reduction in crime was reportedly achieved, with vandalism offences decreasing by 37 per cent.
In Australia, Sydney’s former Rockdale Council pioneered a new approach in 2006, playing the tunes of showman Barry Manilow on repeat to move on carloads of unruly youths who were known to congregate at a beachfront car park.
The move gained world-wide attention and was replicated in other jurisdictions, becoming known as the “Manilow method”, even though musicians Frankie Laine, Nat King Cole and Doris Day were also on Rockdale’s playlist.
“[Manilow’s] early songs, that certainly worked,” then-deputy mayor Bill Saravinovski told the ABC at the time.
“Instead of getting 200 cars in a car park, we probably get about 100 now.
“We won’t get rid of them completely, but the initial reaction is it’s working because it gets to them psychologically.”
