Before he committed the act which led to him being charged with criminal damage, Chris Chalkley carefully applied two coats of masonry paint.

Then he set about painting a black frame around the newly-painted area, and stencilled in a message with lettering replicating that on a 19th century playbill he had found during research in Bristol's Records Office.

It's not the sort of behaviour usually associated with perpetrators of criminal damage to property, such as the marker pen morons who scrawl what they call 'tags', but what most people regard as childish scribble.

But then Mr Chalkley – who will be appearing at Bristol Magistrates' Court on Friday – is not someone who fits the stereotype of a vandal.

He created the People's Republic of Stokes Croft three years ago, with the aim of using street art to improve the once notorious street near Bristol city centre. His arrest last week happened as he was painting a sign saying 'Welcome to Stokes Croft' onto the 51.02 building, the former offices of Avon County Council.

Of course, the police have to enforce the law. But many who live and work around Stokes Croft believe that instead of taking his fingerprints, police should have shaken Mr Chalkley by the hand.

For before he set up the PRSC, Stokes Croft was infamous for gangs of aggressive drunks, empty buildings and crime. A colleague of one of my neighbours even got mugged there when on her way to work at about 9am some years ago. Now, Stokes Croft is turning into one of Bristol's most intriguing destinations.

Visitors can often be seen taking photographs of street art that covers wooden hoardings on vacant shops. You can buy Stokes Croft memorabilia, such as mugs, tea towels and sticks of rock.

Even the street drinkers on the patch of grass nicknamed Turbo Island seem more friendly. When a friend of my oldest son's decided to wave at them the other day as we went past, they responded with cheery waves.

As a law-abiding citizen, I can understand that police have to take action if they encounter a crime.

What I can't understand is how they have been able to act strictly according to the book in charging Mr Chalkley, yet have failed to take coherent action on the very visible problem of aggressive street drinking that has dominated Stokes Croft – a 'No Street Drinking' zone – for more than a decade.

If the city council had been quick enough to invoke the law, the Stokes Croft Conservation Area wouldn't have been blighted by eyesores such as perspex shop signs and an illuminated sign outside a 'massage parlour'.

Judging by the derelict appearance of buildings such as Westmoreland House, council officers are also unwilling to use Section 215 of the Town and Country Act 1990 against owners of properties that adversely affect their surroundings.

The courts will decide if Mr Chalkley committed criminal damage by painting his sign. Meanwhile, the people of Bristol can judge for themselves whether or not Stokes Croft has been damaged for decades by absentee landlords, bureaucratic inertia, and inconsistent policing.