It is unfortunate for the people of Ravenscliffe that their estate yesterday found itself referred to in a national newspaper as an example of places where no-one wants to live if they can possibly avoid doing so.

There are a lot of people putting a great deal of effort into improving the situation on the estate. Few would deny it has had a grim recent past, but there seems to be plenty of agreement now that things are getting better.

The chairman of the Ravenscliffe and Greengates Association and her counterpart on the Greengates and Ravenscliffe Community Forum both say that the tide has turned. Their view is that crime has decreased and that many residents are taking a more positive attitude towards the place where they live.

That seems likely to have a direct connection with the tough line being taken by the authorities towards nuisance neighbours. The disruption and distress caused by a small minority of families should be relieved even further when new legislation is introduced on April 1 making anti-social behaviour a criminal offence - legislation which rightly covers all owner-occupiers as well as tenants.

Tougher laws are well overdue. They make it plain to troublemakers, who have set the agenda for far too long, that society will not tolerate their behaviour and that decent people should not be expected to have to put up with it.

The reported improvements so far on Ravenscliffe show what can be achieved even with present legislation. When the new laws comes in, making it easier for the authorities to take firm action, things should become even better.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.