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Residents will use new laws to block lapdance club near school
Felix Allen and Alison Richards23 Sep 2009
Campaigners have vowed to use new laws on lapdancing clubs to stop them being opened in residential areas.
A group of residents fighting plans for a strip venue in Crouch End say they will use the legislation to close it if it gets the go-ahead.
Councillors in Haringey will decide this week whether to grant a licence to the owners of the Music Palace bar, who want to convert it into a late-night “gentlemen's club” offering nude table-side dances.
Some 3,000 people have signed a petition against the club, opposite a primary school, and campaigners say if it is allowed to open they will appeal for its licence to be revoked as soon as promised reforms come into force next year.
The reforms, announced by the Home Office on Monday, mean that lapdancing clubs will be reclassified as sex establishments, rather than entertainment venues as under the 2003 Licensing Act, and will have to renew their licences every year.
Councils will be able to shut clubs as well as veto new venues under a stricter licensing regime.
Alison Lillystone, a leading member of the Lap Off! campaign against the Music Palace plans, said: “We hope our objections succeed, but if not then we will certainly appeal.”
The 50-year-old management consultant, a mother of three, added: “It's absolutely right that lapdancing bars should be classed as sexual encounter establishments, and there is plenty of evidence of the problems they bring to an area, with drunk, aroused men hassling young women. It's just completely the wrong place for it.”
The reforms may pave the way for campaign groups who have objected to clubs being opened in the past to use the laws to close them. One such group, the Bride Court Residents' Association, unsuccessfully protested against the City Golf Bar in Bride Lane, which was granted permission last year to hold nude dancing sessions from 11am.
Kat Banyard, campaigns officer for women's equality group The Fawcett Society, said: “There's a lot of scaremongering from the lapdancing industry, saying the laws could bring about a blanket ban. It is no such thing, it just provides the chance for a debate on the impact a club has on the community.”
Reader views (10)
Why would children be out on the street in the evening? Sounds to me like the jealous wife syndrome, as usual.
Maybe after marriage these ladies should continue to take care of themselves so there men might stay at home. Which of course we all know is impossible. They put up the show right thru till the wedding day and then it changes, the weight goes on, the makeup comes off, the sex disappears. I would have to think that they would be happy that there men were only making it to a strip club and did not have a girlfriend on the side instead.
- Rori Gordon, Hauppauge, USA, 24/09/2009 09:50
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Ugly lazy chavs complaining about clubs - what a laugh.
These a are typical of the morons that allow their
spawn to roam the streets late at night, getting
into trouble, while they booze the night away.
Why don't they try a get a life(if the're able to)
or a job.
- Lb, Bromley, 24/09/2009 01:34
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There are clear links between lap dancing clubs and prostitution - but hey, it's all bit of a laugh, and it happens at night, so what's the big deal?
Of course it is NIMBYSM - what's wrong with having pride in where you come from?
- Jon Edwards, London, 23/09/2009 23:25
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As I understand it, the lapdance club, which is very near a primary school wants to open during the day. Don't know about Nimbyism but I think these places aren't much wanted by most people anywhere. Mind you, looking at the comments, maybe I'm wrong. Depressing.
- Nelly, London, 23/09/2009 18:46
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Given the behaviour of a large number of school children I would feel safer living next door to a lap dancing club than a school.
- R.F.York, Yorks, UK, 23/09/2009 17:36
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It's Nimbyism pure and simple. I would hope the kiddies are tucked up in bed well before their dads sneak out to give the dog that much needed late night walk - I bet there are plenty tied up outside!
- Paul, London, 23/09/2009 16:12
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I've never beento a lap-dancing club and never will, but I can't see the proximity to a school being a problem.The clubs are used by creatures of the night and are likely to be closed during the day when school children are on the street.
However, I have often walked the streets of Soho after dark and felt completely safe.
- George, Cambridge UK, 23/09/2009 15:48
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If I worked as a lapdancer I'd be more worried about getting attacked by the very same kids on my way home.
- Eddie, London, 23/09/2009 11:33
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Looking at the state of the campaigners they're probably jealous of anything appealing to the eye in Haringey.
Cor,what a sight.
- Steve, London, 23/09/2009 11:31
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Hmmmmmmmmmmm. Looking at the behaviour of some schoolkids nowadays, I'd rather have the lap-dance club across the road than the school.....
- David, London, 23/09/2009 11:20
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