Saturday the 10th there were a couple of people in bus stops outside a couple of the pubs - the bus stop on the corner by the Northumberland Arms had a group of girls obviously drunk who were having a heated argument and kicking / punching the bus stop in a fury. This isn't an isolated case and of course, not everyone who gets drunk acts like an idiot and in this case it's a very small minority and no way are the pubs responsible for the behaviour of their clientele. Also, vandalism isn't specifically caused by drunks. The vandalism should be targeted directly - where's the CCTV? Where are the pictures of the perpetrators in local literature? John Fox has mentioned that the CSO shift patterns stop at 10pm - it's insane, especially with a police station a stone throw away.
The point I was making is that putting a purpose build care home in the middle of a high street will certainly cull whatever nightlife Bedlington has left on the high street due to noise complaints etc. and night time vandalism shall certainly go down, just as the rest of the high street will.
If more development like this is given the go ahead Bedlington will be nothing more than a remote retirement community void of local trade, local restaurants and pubs - a barren wasteland where the biggest concern for the residents is when the bins are supposed to go out, it's almost managed decline. It was good news to hear about the developments going on behind front street and I can't wait for that to be complete, I can only hope it will stop Bedlington becoming the largest retirement home in the world.
