Lap Dancing in Leeds

Illuminati Ventures has applied to Leeds City Council for permission to expand the current Black Diamond club on New Briggate from two floors to four. And now a report to the council's City Plans Panel recommends the venue, which is near The Grand Theatre, should be given permission to double its size.

Gender extremist Sandra McNeill from Support After Rape and Sexual Assault Leeds (SARSVL) whinged:

I am very, very surprised because Leeds City Council has agreed to limit the number of lap dancing clubs to four. The majority of members of the Citizens' Panel said that Briggate was not suitable for lap dancing clubs. It's next to The Grand Theatre and that makes it a sensitive location and not suitable.

Planners noted:

Although Black Diamond/Tantric Blue is located near to family leisure facilities (the Grand Theatre and the Arena), and close to New Briggate, this does not automatically mean that the licence will not be granted.

The proposed use it compatible with the Entertainment Quarter designation. Evidence suggests that the use would be likely to have less of a direct impact on the amenities of the locality than the use of the building primarily as a drinking establishment.

No objections have been raised by consultees, including the Police and Environmental Protection and accordingly, on balance, the application is recommended for approval.

Update: Approved

21st August 2013. See  article from  sevlicensing.wordpress.com

Black Diamond club (now Tantric Blue) will double in size. Having obtained an SEV licence it was noted that it had never obtained planning permission, so this was sought and has now been obtained.

Leeds Council has adopted the policy to close table dancing businesses that have done nothing except offend the morality of councillors.

The number of lap dancing clubs in Leeds will now be set at a maximum of 4 but it is not yet clear how Leeds will select the businesses for closure and how they will work around the illegality of closing businesses without reason.

Existing licences would be reviewed when they come up for renewal later this year, the council said. The new morality rules will come into force from September.

Perhaps Leeds Council need to consider some of the legal points from the previous post.

In July 2012 the Leeds Council Licensing Committee formed a disgracefully one sided working group to review the policy to ensure it still met the needs [some] of the 'people of Leeds':

• Rosie Campbell, Researcher, University of Leeds
• Pauline Ellis, Equality Unit
• Rosie Robinson Boardman, OBJECT
• Arwen Strudwick, Domestic Violence Unit
• Sara Robertson, Child Friendly Officer
• Sgt Andrew Pollard, West Yorkshire Police (Child Sex Exploitation)
• Sgt Martin Mynard, West Yorkshire Police (City Centre NPT)

The working group unsurprisingly opted for new restrictions on table dancing venues, including: a ban on table dancing outside of the city centre; and a cap of 4 premises in the city centre.

In March the Licensing Committee approved the draft policy for public consultation.

The public consultation took place between 18th March and 26th April. The council received 135 responses. Each response was classified as positive, positive but would go further, negative or unclear:

• 87 (64%) responses were in support of the policy,
• 43 (32%) were not in support and
• 5 (4%) provided a response where it was unclear.

It was noted that In support of the policy, 52 (39%) respondents used the same standard letter. This response agreed that there should be no lap dancing clubs outside of the city centre, accepted a limit of 4, provided some sensitive uses, confirmed that advertising should not be sexually explicit, and transport for customers should not be provided.

The working group have now recommended that Leeds Council adopt its miserable policy:

• That Licensing Committee consider the responses to the public consultation and the recommendation from the Working Group.
• That Licensing Committee consider the draft policy and refer it to Executive Board for approval, with the policy coming into effect on 1st September 2013.

The report does not comment on how to select the 3 clubs to be closed down and how to address the fact that such closures are illegal under European Licensing law.

A proposed new name for a Leeds table dancing club could inflict moral or psychological harm on children, licensing officials ludicrously claim.

Owners of the Black Diamond club, on New Briggate in the city centre, have applied to Leeds City Council to double the size of the premises, from two floors to four. They also want to rename it Tantric Blue .

But the council's own licensing department has now criticised the application -- because the suggested new name would undermine the requirement to protect children from harm. In a letter of objection, the department spewed:

Whilst 'Tantric' is linked to spiritualism and certain religious practices, for the purpose of a lap dancing venue it takes on another interpretation and associates the premises with sexual practice.

The licensing authority is of the opinion that the name of the premises has the potential to cause moral and/or psychological harm to children as well as offence and embarrassment to parents when visiting the city with children.

The sub-committee is due to make a decision at a meeting on 10th June.

A new draft policy recommends that Leeds City Council imposes a limit of four lap dancing clubs,  three fewer than are currently operating. It also suggests banning strip joints from sensitive locations , for example near schools and religious buildings.

The new proposals were welcomed by Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves, who led last year's campaign. She spouted:

I want Leeds to be seen as a welcoming, family-friendly city and I do not feel that the proliferation of lap dancing clubs in prominent locations sends out a positive image of our city to visitors. I hope that the licensing committee uses the cap on the number of venues as a way of doing this.

Bishop of Ripon and Leeds, the Rt Revd John Packer, is backing the new policy. One would think that churches should lay off preaching about sexual morality until they have got their own houses in order, but he spouted anyway:

This seems an appropriate response to the concerns expressed by many that some parts of Leeds city centre could be effectively barred to children and families because of the sheer number of SEVs. It is important that the city of Leeds is seen as a place of welcome and encouragement to all.

The policy was drawn up by a council working group following a survey of more than 1,800 members of the council's Citizens Panel. Asked how many lap dancing clubs was appropriate for the city centre, 59% said four or fewer, of which nearly half said there should be none. The licensing committee is now likely to put the draft policy out for public consultation.

Update: Leeds Council reminded that it is against the law for councils to close down businesses for arbitrary moral reasons

14th March 2013.  See  article from  yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk

Lawyers have warned council chiefs to brace themselves for costly High Court action if they attempt to shut down Leeds lap dancing clubs.

As reported in the YEP a new draft policy proposes to limit the number of strip venues in the city to four -- three fewer than are currently operating. Now committee members heard the authority could well face legal action if it forced any existing businesses to shut.

Council solicitor Richard Des Forges said:

We can't get away from the fact that there's an element of risk. We have taken advice from one of the leading barristers in the area and what the lap dancing clubs could do is take us to the High Court for a judicial review.

What they can argue is fairly limited and, as long as we have dotted the 'i's and crossed the 't's and we know where they will attack us, we should be okay. But there are no guarantees.

Legal Considerations

First of all it noted that an existing licence is considered in law as a protected possession in human rights law:

It has been accepted that a licence is classed as a possession capable of protection under Article 1 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights.

This clearly states that a person has a right to peaceful enjoyment of his possessions and the case of Tre Traktorer Aktiebolag v Sweden (1989) 13 EHRR classifies a licence as something capable of protection.

Not something that can councils can take away on a moralist or feminist whim.

Secondly there are European requirements imported into UK law that impose standard conditions on councils when considering licence applications:

The Provision of Services Regulations [S.I. 2009/2999]. Regulation 24(1) imposes three important tests highlighting that any refusal must be:

• Non discriminatory
• Necessary
• Proportionate

Surely this would allow failed applicants to ask a court 'exactly how necessary was it for a council to refuse a license for a 5th venue, when 4 others have been approved by the council?

A Leeds MP has demanded an apology from a councillor who does not agree with her extremist views. Rachel Reeves has branded Leeds City Council councillor Joe Marjoram's comments about lap dancing proposals on the social networking site as outrageous .

Councillor Marjoram had been responding to Leeds City Council's recommendation to ban several of the city's lap dancing clubs. The Conservative councillor tweeted that he would not object if someone planned to open up a lap dancing club in his ward but added it would not make money outside the city centre . He then made light in another tweet: naked dancing girls for neighbours sounds great.

Marjoram told the YEP that he stood by his comments and that they were a joke:

It was intended as a joke and anyone who read that needs to go away and get a sense of humour.

There's nothing wrong with the lap dancing industry. It's not linked to the sex trade or forced labour.

If people object to it as an industry then don't take it out on me. Making a complaint about a tweet will get nothing done and it shows how pedantic they are.

If I have done something illegal, unlawful or offensive they can report me to the police if not they can get lost.

Reeves retorted:

Frankly I'm pretty shocked that a Leeds councillor has made these outrageous comments. I call on Councillor Marjoram to withdraw his comments and apologise for them.

Nutters who launched a failed bid to ban lap dancing in Leeds are refusing to take defeat lying down.

MPs, councillors and religious leaders had joined forces to call on Leeds City Council to to restrict the number of venues in the city or to ban them outright. But after being briefed about the legality of imposing restrictions on grounds of morality, the authority granted all seven clubs new licences last month.

The nutters have now launched an online petition calling on the council to reconsider.

Leeds West MP Rachel Reeves, reiterated her morality concerns:

I don't believe that these sexual entertainment venues should be located on our busiest city centre streets, especially adjacent to civic and religious buildings.

Residents, visitors and children should be able to journey through the city centre without encountering the sex industry and at the moment that is just not possible.

I want Leeds to be seen as a welcoming, family friendly city and I do not feel that the proliferation of these clubs in such prominent locations sends out a positive image of our city to visitors.

Moortown councillor Rebecca Charlwood, who led the initial nutter campaign, added:

It's particularly disappointing that Leeds City Council did not take action to reduce the number of these clubs as many other cities across the country have done.

We have the power to say where they should be and how many of these clubs is appropriate, if you take pride in your city it's a common sense policy.

Offsite Update: Empress Rachel - We Will Get There In Leeds.....

17th July 2012. See  article from  strippingtheillusion.blogspot.com

Empress Rachel - We Will Get There In Leeds ..... or How I Learned to Stop Respecting Democracy If It Gets In My Way And Started Loving My Own Opinions Even More......

Monitoring and analysing a trail of tweets from the campaigning nutters disappointed by the Leeds licence approvals.

...Read the full article

Leeds Council received seven applications for sexual entertainment venue licences and following a week of hearings the licensing sub-committee decided to grant all of them subject to some conditions.

Lap dancing clubs given licences were Liberte, Deep Blue, Purple Door, Red Leopard, Wildcats, Black Diamond, and Silks in the Dark.

Hours of opening will be set at 10pm to 4am between Monday and Thursday and 10pm until 5am on Fridays and Saturdays.

Objectors including councillors, MPs and religious leaders called on the committee to refuse all the applications and set a nil limit for the future, or significantly reduce the number allowed to operate in the city.

But Councillor Suzi Armitage, sub-committee chairman, told the Yorkshire Evening Post that in hearing all the applications members had sought to be fair to the clubs while taking the objectors' views into account.out.

Dancers from Leeds lap dancing club Wildcats, gathered to protest against license changes that jeopardises their jobs.

The dancers along with operations director of Wildcats, Hamed Nejad, were making a stand against the proposed licensing restrictions that could see seven clubs in the city closing down. Nejad said:

We are all deeply concerned about the potential outcomes of the license review. The livelihoods of hundreds of people are at risk and it seems in the hands of some lobby groups with extreme views.

There are thousands of people, men and women, who enjoy visiting clubs across Leeds every week and it would be great if they made their voices heard in this debate.

A former champagne bar in Leeds city centre is to re-open as a strip club despite objections.

Len's Bar on York Place closed last year and now The Bradbury Executive Trust, the premises licence holder, intends to use the building for a new venture to be called Baby Platinum, a striptease, pole dancing and lap dancing venue.

The scheme cleared a major hurdle when the council's licensing sub-committee agreed the licence could be altered to run from 10am until 6am every day.

Residents living in flats above the former Len's Bar objected to the application fearing it would lead to increased disturbance.

In a letter of objection, residents Howard Davison and Claire Leather said a lap dancing club was inappropriate in a residential building.

A letter of objection from Zolv.com Ltd, a business based in York Place said: A licenced premise with all night opening and these activities would have a negative effect on the immediate area and the reputation of the small businesses well established here.

A former champagne bar is set to make a comeback on to the Leeds party scene – as a strip club.

Len's Bar, on York Place, closed last year but the building's owners have applied to re-open as a strip tease, pole dancing and lap dancing venue.

Leeds City Council said the owners had applied for a variation to its original entertainment licence.

The move has caused predictable outrage among nutters and moralists, including members of the Leeds branch of Object. Rosie Robinson Boardman said: " We have found that many people in Leeds believe the nine lap dancing clubs we have in our city is more than enough.

The rights of women in Leeds to access local services are being failed by the Licensing Authority's choice to support lap dance and strip tease. Leeds City Council has a duty to support the different needs of men and women in the city.

But by granting licences to clubs offering adult entertainment involving female exploitation, you are privileging the rights of one gender over another, by licensing venues that have proven detrimental effects on the well-being of women and girls.

Councillor Mohammed Iqbal added: These clubs are degrading. These clubs are springing up everywhere and Leeds already has too many of them. Leeds City Council should put a stop to it.