The venue operators plan to ban thugs from their bars by developing a blacklist of known troublemakers, and the initiative has won support from local police.

The long and sad history of unacceptable antisocial behaviour in our nightclub precinct has defied efforts by the law and operators to stamp it out, and while media outlets including The Advertiser have at times been critical of the nightclub industry, this is one time when the industry should be acknowledged for taking steps to tackle the problem.

While this may do little to address the much larger cultural problem of binge drinking and the alarming increase of aggressive behaviour on our streets, it should help weed out the very small minority of troublemakers believed responsible for a majority of the trouble.

Similarly, the shift to serving alcohol in plastic rather than glass and the banning of potent shots late at night are further positive steps by local nightclub operators to address a problem nobody wants to see continue.

Proactive measures such as these, combined with a higher police presence on our streets when it matters most, would go a long way to both providing a deterrent to antisocial behaviour and reducing the incidence of unacceptable actions by the minority of those who frequent the city’s nightclub precinct.

What do you think? Write a letter to the editor, or e-mail editor@bendigoadvertiser.c om.au