UK Sex Sells News

The owners of Kinky Koala in Friar Street, Reading want to turn it into a club called Black Diamond, but the council claims it is in an inappropriate location

The owners of Kinky Koala in Friar Street have submitted a licensing application to Reading Borough Council for a Sexual Entertainment Licence for a venue called Black Diamond.

However, the council's licensing officer has raised concerns over its location, saying Friar Street has numerous restaurants and an ice cream parlour that are used by families. More than 500 new homes also have planning permission in the vicinity of the club.

The council's report, due to be discussed at a licensing meeting on Tuesday, December 5, claims the club is inappropriate to the locality, and inappropriate due to the use to which other premises in the vicinity of the proposed premises are put.

Update: Licence approved

6th December 2017 See  article from bbc.com

Reading Borough Council has approved the licence application required to turn karaoke bar Kinky Koala in Friar Street into a strip club called Black Diamond. Council officers had recommended the plans be refused and claiming that the club would be inappropriate in the area.

Thames Valley Police recommended dancers do not consume alcohol while working to ensure that they are able to fully conduct themselves in the correct and professional manner. PC Simon Wheeler said another lap dancing club in the town had minimal cause for police intervention.  But he added the force had cause for concern in relation to activities by dancers sitting on and touching customers. He said:

Some incidents were reported where intoxicated customers were encouraged to pay exorbitant fees for dancers whilst they were so drunk they could not make considered decisions.

The applicants said private dances would start at £20 for three minutes and go up to £400 to £500 for an hour. The club will be open seven days a week between 21:00 and 04:00.

Sheffield city councillors have voted not to cap the number of sex venues within the city, rejecting proposals to set the limit at two.

\Sheffield is currently home to two sexual entertainment venues: the Spearmint Rhino lap dancing club, in the city centre; and the La Chambre swingers club in Attercliffe.

Plans to set that number as the limit, preventing any more from opening, were dropped following public consultation on the council's sex establishment policy.

Sheffield Heeley MP Louise Haigh was among those who had supported a ban on further vanues, as she claimed had been adopted by 10 other local authorities across the country whinged:

This is not only disappointing because of the lack of joined-up thinking it demonstrates, but also because of the current climate wherein sexual harassment and the entrenchment of inequality between men and women is so prevalent.

Liberal Democrat councillors had previously labelled the council prudish and anti-business for proposing to limit the number of sex clubs. A council report had warned limiting employment in lap dancing clubs could lead women to seek work in less-regulated high-risk erotic dance environments. It also stated the council was not permitted to take a moral stance on strip clubs. Councillor Paszek said:

We have developed a policy that is fit for purpose and allows any sex establishment operating in Sheffield to be properly administered and regulated to maintain the high management standards, the safety and safeguarding of staff, performers, patrons and members of the public, as well as ensuring these premises are located appropriately and in accordance with the legislation.

The council received 130 responses to the consultation, which it said included a range of opinions.

The council's new policy states that sex clubs, shops and cinemas are not appropriate in certain locations, including near schools, parks and places of worship, or in the city's cultural hub, which incorporates the Millennium Gallery and theatres.

A Hastings lap-dancing club has come under fire for its use of mobile billboards. For the last few months adverts for Prospect Place-based Club XS have been parked around the area.

The ads have been criticised by several feminist campaign groups  including the Bexhill and Battle Labour Party Women's Forum. Women's officer Anne Ruzylo whinged:

At this time of year, Bexhill has many tourists coming into the town and inevitably, many of them too will have seen these degrading ads at the side of the road. Posters like these not only leave a distinctly nasty taste in the mouth but also bring the entire area into disrepute at a time when we need all the visitors we can get. This isn't just about the rights of one local business to make more money. These posters appear to suggest that women are on sale at a club just down the road from here and that is something that directly affects every person in this country.

Forum members have written to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) to raise complaints about the billboard.

Club XS managing director Peter Eldridge responded:

I see that once again Club XS being disparaged for being nothing more than a perfectly legal business operating in the town with the full consent of the council, which grant us our license each year. A license that has now been renewed for the seventh time without a single objection.