A BOLD plan to cut street violence by 20 per cent in two years has been announced by state MPs, police, licensees and council, following a meeting to discuss Bendigo’s boozy underbelly.

The meeting of about 30 people yesterday resolved to take back the streets by uniting the community against drunken thugs.

Member for Bendigo West Bob Cameron and Member for Bendigo East Jacinta Allan declared the meeting, chaired by City of Greater Bendigo Mayor Rod Campbell, a step in the right direction.

But both local MPs acknowledged more work needed to be done if street violence was going to reduce by 10 per cent this year and in 2011.

The meeting came only hours before the Coalition released figures obtained under Freedom of Information laws which show that over the past 10 years assaults jumped by 67 per cent and violent crime rose by 65 per cent in the City of Greater Bendigo.

Mr Cameron, who is also Police Minister, acknowledged that he had come under fire from some licensees who, during the meeting, called for more police on Bendigo’s streets.

“We want to tackle the issue on our streets. Late at night there is this issue we all want to address,” he said.

Ms Allan said a Safer Communities Forum review of the City of Greater Bendigo’s late-night venue policy, an overhaul of CBD infrastructure including the late-night taxi rank, lighting, taxi numbers and CCTV cameras and increased police measures were all new moves designed to curb street violence.

“We walked out of that meeting with a very strong target that we are signing up to as a community,” she said.

“That is a very powerful thing for a community to come together and say that `we will set a standard for ourselves, we’ll set a target and we’ll be measured against that’.

“Bendigo is about the only place in Victoria now (that) is going to be setting (a) target.

“We think it’s a great place to live, we want it to remain that way.”

Bendigo Traders Association spokesman Jock Clark and HuHa nightclub owner David Cambridge said they were pleased with the outcome of the meeting.

Shadow Minister for Police and Leader of The Nationals Peter Ryan said Bendigo crime statistics damned the State Government’s law and order record.

The figures are based on the City of Greater Bendigo, and not on police region three figures reported in The Advertiser earlier this week.

Police statistics showed there were 641.8 assaults per 100,000 people in region three in 2009, but statistics released under FOI laws say there were 675 in the 2008-09 financial year.

“Communities in the city and the country are fed up with the government’s soft-on-crime approach,” Mr Ryan said.