Copmanthorpe

[Chris Sharp]

In the last Ward newsletter thing I noticed something about a ban on drinking alcohol in the streets in Copmanthorpe.

Why?

Yes a few under 18's who can't get into the pubs are drinking on the streets, but will a ban change this behaviour? No, they will just find somewhere else to drink and the problem will be shifted to someone else's "back yard" - the Rec and round the back of the Methodist church or WI spring to mind.

A Copmanthorpe wide ban will not solve the problem, but it will create a new one. I know of three annual street parties on the St Giles Way estate, and I guess there will be others in Copmanthorpe. At these parties people drink alcohol, will this now be criminal behaviour? Will these examples of genuine community (no organising committee, no fund raising) become illegal?

chris

[Lady from Worcestershire]

Hi, Chris

I'm moving into Copmanthorpe from outside the area soon. I would fully support an alcohol-free zone in Copmanthorpe.

There is no excuse for under 18s to be drinking in the street. This behaviour is not only a nuisance to others but it is dangerous for the young people themselves. Young people need to learn to drink sensibly and moderately by drinking alongside mature adults. If they are drinking in the street, they are not getting the supervision and information they need. When drunk outdoors in the street, teenagers are vulnerable to road traffic accidents and to exploitation by others, as well as to alcohol-related illness.

One of my teenage students actually died a few weeks ago, when out with friends. She didn't drink - she had a life-limiting illness and was on medication. However, she had an asthma attack and none of her friends was sober enough to help her. Alcohol is, quite literally, killing our young people - particularly young women - and anything we can do to keep them safer has to be a good thing.

What an alcohol-free zone would do, very effectively, is deter young people from other areas from coming into Copmanthorpe to drink. It also sends a strong message to the children of residents that drinking alcohol is something do be done in safe environments, alongside the rest of the community, rather than in teenage ghettos created in the street.

I wonder if there are special arrangements that can be made for private parties?

[Chris Sharp]

[Copmanthorpe Mafia]

We think this ban is a bit of a joke!

First the council has to remind us (via the newsletter) that we are indeed able to drink in our own private gardens. How very kind of them! Who do the hell do they think they are saying what we can or can't do in our own garden?

Secondly, we pass the Youth Centre today (14 April 2007 early afternoon) to see adults (middle aged) freely drinking lager/beer on the steps ie in a public area.

Why was there not an armed police swoop on these people for daring to break the Junta's law in Copmanthorpe?

It's hardly a good example to be setting to people. If the ban was to reduce under age drinking then it hardly seems fair to let adults freely drink in public.

I suppose I'll have to raise this at the next council meeting.
_________________
I'm going for a drink in public, well in my own garden..

[Chris Sharp]