Birmingham Post Comment: Broad Brush Needed to Clean Up Our Image

Summary

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Concerted efforts by police and the city council to clean up Broad Street will be welcomed by all those who have suffered the terrifying experience of running the gauntlet of yobbish, drunken behaviour in Birmingham's premier entertainment zone. A new by-law, allowing police officers to confiscate alcohol from people who are likely to cause a nuisance, should begin to pay dividends as soon as it is introduced. The transfer later this year of powers to grant drinks licences, from magistrates courts to the council, will open up further possibilities to deal with bar owners deemed to be behaving irresponsibly in encouraging over-consumption of alcohol. Crucially, the seemingly limitless 'happy hours' and two-for-one offers must be brought under control.

All of this represents a positive step forward, but it must be accepted that change of the type required to turn Broad Street into the cafe-culture centre of Birmingham will take a long time to achieve. There is also the obvious pitfall that by clamping down on one small area the authorities will simply move the problem to other parts of the city centre. Twenty-five years ago, when the development of Brindleyplace was under discussion, there was much said about the Europeanisation of Broad Street and the coming of cafe-culture. Sadly, the culture that has chiefly been allowed to develop since then has been one of seedy lap dancing clubs and binge drinking.

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Birmingham Post Comment: Broad Brush Needed to Clean Up Our Image

It is exactly the brilliance of Brindleyplace ...

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