Lap Dancing in Gloustershire

The 'justice' secretary and Cheltenham MP Alex Chalk has said he wants strip clubs to be banned from his constituency town. He claimed such venues harm businesses and attract antisocial behaviour.

His views on Sexual Entertainment Venues (SEV) were aired at the borough council's licensing sub-committee. In an e-mail from the MP he added:

The time has come to stop such venues opening in Cheltenham altogether.

During the meeting councillors approved a temporary licence allowing a bar to host lap dancing during Cheltenham Racecourse's November meet.

A spokesperson for Chalk said the MP has a standing objection to SEV licences and complains that Cheltenham Borough Council has the power to refuse them but they choose not to.

Lap dancing has been banned from Cheltenham after local feminists persuaded the council that feminist morality should prevail.

An application for sexual entertainment venue licence at the Fantasy Club, 12-14 Bath Road was rejected.

About 20 objections were lodged against lap dancing club plan. The licensing committee voted 3-1 to refuse the application on the grounds that the premises were in a supposedly inappropriate location.

The committee heard objections from an opposition alliance made up of Councillor Flo Lucas, St Paul's Residents' Association Chair Tess Beck and Lesley Painter of local feminist group, Chelt Fems. Painter argued that Cheltenham Borough Council should follow in the steps of high-profile international organisations such as Formula 1, who axed scantily clad grid girls from their events last year.

This is the first time in three year's that the The Fantasy Club has been refused a licence. The club was granted a licence for lap dancing in 2017 and 2016.

Update: Occasional opening and the occasion is the horse racing festival

16th March 2018. See  article from gloucestershirelive.co.uk

The club opened for business after the first day's racing as occasional opening is allowed without a licence.

A licencee of the 2 Pigs pub in Cheltenham has applied for a sexual entertainment licence for four race meetings at Cheltenham, including next year's Festival. Licencee Kim Binding said the lap-dancing had happened at the 2 Pigs before, but the company organising the entertainment, Red Apple Associates Ltd, had used five different venues, presumably to invoke the occasional event exception to licensing requirements. Now, if the licence was successful, they would just use the 2 Pigs, in Church Street in the town centre. Kim said:

There will be no extra lap dancing in Cheltenham, it's just that it will be under one roof. It is just myself and my husband. It is a small business and it is a way of making a living out of Race Week.

Kim said the sexual entertainment licence, which they have applied to Cheltenham Borough Council, for, would only cover racing times. During the National Hunt Festival in March, the venue would want to provide sexual entertainment from 5pm to 5am. Kim said this was because of the times people were leaving the racecourse.

The application has been attacked by moral campaigners Chel Fems, Cheltenham Guardians and the deputy mayor of Cheltenham.

Terry Howard of Cheltenham Guardians: moralised:

Cheltenham Guardians has a duty to the public that we serve so with this in mind we shall be submitting a formal objection to the application. The High Street is frequented by many young students, many of whom are yet to experience a race occasion. Whilst the races are good for the local economy I feel that sexual entertainment should not be a default bolt-on. It has no place in Cheltenham.

Jo Bartosch, chair of feminist group Chelt Fems, said her objection wasn't moralistic but moralised anyway:

We should be clear, our main objection to lap-dancing from 5pm at The Two Pigs isn't moralistic pearl-clutching...RATHER... it's that the idea that women's sexuality can be bought is demeaning to us all.

I know that I am not alone in feeling a palpable sense of threat when I walk through the town during race week. The right of men to pay women to feign sexual interest in them should not be prioritised above the women's right to feel safe in Cheltenham. I want to remind the council that they have a duty to uphold gender equality, and should they grant this licence it is very probable that they will be in breach of this.

A bid to ban lap dancing clubs across all of Cheltenham was defeated by the narrowest of margins, but the venues will be still be banned in the town's residential areas.

Cheltenham Borough Council debated for more than three and a half hours whether or not to completely prohibit the clubs. The total ban was defeated in a ballot by 19 votes to 18. Councillors then voted by 25 votes to 9 in favour of allowing the clubs in the town centre but not in residential areas.

Councillor Andrew McKinlay (Liberal Democrat), the cabinet member responsible for development and safety, said the policy that was agreed was the best way forward for the town.

Councillor Flo Clucas (Not So Liberal Democrat) made the case for a complete ban of the clubs which she claimed have a negative impact on men and women.

Councillor Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat) said he was neither pro nor anti lap dancing clubs but is in favour of choice for consenting adults. He wisely observed:

Banning things you do not like might seem like a simple solution to life's ills but it will not solve the problems.

The council policy decision taken into account the results of  a public consultation about lap dancing restrictions which received 174 responses. The responses were majorly in favour of a zero limit in each area (85%-90% indicating that named wards were not suitable for clubs), though there were slightly fewer opposing the idea of clubs in industrial areas (around 75%).

About 90% of people who filled out a Cheltenham borough council questionnaire said they do not believe it is acceptable to have a lap dancing club anywhere in Cheltenham.

The consultation was prompted partly by the level of public 'outrage' to an application to open a lap dancing club in Bath Road; an application which was granted by the borough council earlier this year.

The council's licensing staff will now meet to respond to the consultation results.

There were 174 responses to the sexual entertainment venue questionnaire also a petition advocating a ban received about 1,100 signatures.

Carmine Di Liso who runs Fantasy gentlemen's club in Bath Road said his club has received a very good reaction and has been completely trouble free. He said:

We have had no problem with the community. We have had local people criticise us before and they have come in and changed their minds.

Update: Calmer at the council's licensing committee meeting

11th September 2014. See  article from  gloucestershireecho.co.uk  

Cheltenham Borough Council's influential licensing committee met and was asked to give the authority a steer on whether lap dancing clubs should be banned in the town.

A number of moves to do just that were defeated but committee members did eventually agree that sexual entertainment venue licences should not be granted to any clubs outside the town centre.

Meanwhile, they also agreed any applications to open such a club in the town centre should be considered on a case by case basis by the licensing committee and that no limit should be placed on the total number of the clubs allowed.

Councillor Andrew McKinlay, cabinet member for development and safety, pitched the idea for the zero limit for residential areas and case by case determination in the town centre to the committee. He questioned whether a blanket ban would even be legally possible. He said:

It makes much more sense to restrict potential sexual entertainment venues to the town centre area where you would expect other night time entertainment.

The committee was read a statement from Jaine Simner, Gloucestershire Constabulary's licensing manager:

I don't believe we or any other force have statistics that suggest that SEVs are responsible for or increase the likelihood of sexual offences.

It is my opinion that SEVs if well run like any other licensed premises cause us very little problem and are not known for crime and disorder.

The issue of setting a limit on the number of sexual entertainment licences granted in Cheltenham will be discussed by the borough council's cabinet on September 16.

The Salvation Army has collected 665 names on a petition which calls on Cheltenham Borough Council to ban sexual entertainment venue licences in the borough. There is also an online version of the petition with 373 signatures currently.

A 12-week consultation exercise was launched by the council on April 14 to gauge public opinion on whether there should be a limit to the number of venues, such as lapdancing clubs and adult cinemas, in Cheltenham.

This follows in the wake of a licence being granted to Bath Road Property Limited, to turn Voodoo club in Bath Road into Diamond Gentlemen's Club.

In a letter of objection to the council, The Salvation Army's commanding officer for Cheltenham, 'Captain' Steve Smith said he was 'concerned' about Cheltenham becoming known as complicit in the selling of the services of vulnerable females as mere sexual commodities .