Sponsored by
Yobs must be dealt with firmly
READERS will agree that Anti-Social Behaviour Orders are a poor attempt to deal with wayward people: more than half the 17,000 orders issued between 2000 and 2008 were breached.
They did not work and they were not even respected. So nobody will mourn their passing. However, we wait with some concern to see what the coalition government plans to put in their place.
In announcing the scrapping of the orders, Home Secretary Theresa May condemned them as 'gimmick-laden'.
But all we are left with, at this stage, are sound-bite pledges: 'put power into the hands of citizens and trust into the professionals' and that a 'sense of personal and social responsibility needs to be re-established'.
All easier said than done. Meanwhile, our communities need to be assured that those who run riot and cause havoc will be brought to book.
Giving them a piece of paper has not worked. And until we know exactly how to 'put power into the hands of citizens', the government should make sure the yobs are dealt with firmly.
Give us a market worthy of our city
SHEFFIELD city centre has more than its share of stalled developments. So it has called for desperate measures to inject fresh vigour into plans for a new market complex on The Moor.
And that is what happened after a deal was reached between the council and finance company Scottish Widows to hopefully kickstart the scheme.
It may seem that the council has been over-generous in handing over a 250 year lease to encourage the company to move forward with their side of the deal and continue with the revamp of paving and street furniture on The Moor.
But this was rewarded with a gift to the council of land where they can now go ahead with a new market complex to replace the run down and increasingly shabby Castle Market building.
Readers will be happy to see progress. All they want now is for the design of the new building to be worthy of the aspirations Sheffield has long harboured to be a city worth visiting.
An inspiration
IF Grammy award winner Elliott Kennedy looks a bit rough today - that's because he spent the night sleeping rough. The Sheffield songwriter has launched a charity to help homeless people and decided the best way to get a real understanding of the problems of people he is targeting is to live their life, if only for a short time. The writer is to be congratulated for having the courage not only to shrug off the comforts of his privileged life but also to dedicate hard work and effort to improving the lot of some of our most vulnerable people. Elliott has made a career by seeking out inspiration. But on this occasion he is truly inspirational.
Got a view? Leave a comment below.
Follow The Star on Twitter and Facebook:
For breaking news and sport follow The Star on Twitter at www.twitter.com/sheffieldstar and Facebook at www.facebook.com/sheffieldstar.
JOIN THE STAR READER PANEL: The Star is YOUR newspaper, so tell us what you think about it and what you want to see - CLICK HERE.
Don't miss our daily pull-outs - only in the The Star: Monday Star Sport, Tuesday Class Act; Wednesday Business; Thursday Grassroots; Friday Time Out; Saturday Retro. Subscribe to The Star - CLICK HERE
READ MORE
Join the Star reader panel
Main news index
Your letters
Features
South Yorkshire's environmental news
Kids Zone
More business news
More Rotherham news
More Doncaster news
More Barnsley news
Latest sport
Email to a friend
Print this page
Looking for...
Featured advertisers
Jobs
Search for a job
Motors
Search for a car
Property
Search for a house
Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 23 C
Wind Speed: 18 mph
Wind direction: North east
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 10 C to 22 C
Wind Speed: 15 mph
Wind direction: East
