In the lap of the licensing gods...

Recent years have seen our high streets swamped with outfits whose sole purpose is to extract money from gullible punters awash with city bonuses and ready cash.

Fortunately, such immoral activity is now on the wane. Estate agents are closing down as the property bubble has burst. However, before local residents can celebrate there is a new threat on the high street, intent on extracting money from gullible punters - lap-dancing clubs! Forget Annabel and Penny arranging HIPs, now you have Amber and Pearl gyrating them…

Emotive​

As is the norm with emotive moral issues there is a considerable amount of confusion as people voice strong opinions either without fully understanding the appropriate legislation or choosing to ignore it.

Here are two recent quotes:

• "It's nonsense that you can object to your neighbour building a porch but you can't object to a lap-dancing club setting up next door," said Lynda Waltho, MP for Stourbridge.

• "Local licensing policies, even where they mention lap-dancing clubs, seem ineffective. Let's give local councils some teeth to not have these where they don't want them," said Dr Blackman-Woods, MP for City of Durham.

So what is the law? To operate a lap-dancing club you need a premises licence free of onerous conditions and sufficiently broad in what it regulates.

If the premises in question either has no premises licence or one which requires a variation then local residents can object to the application on the basis of one or more of the four licensing objectives and, if it is considered necessary to uphold these objectives, a council licensing sub-committee may refuse the application.

One of Dr Blackman-Woods' complaints is that residents of a large old people's home located 300 metres from the applicant's premises were not permitted to object. Presumably this was because any representation would not have been deemed 'relevant' because the home is not located 'in the vicinity' of the potential lap-dancing club.

The Licensing Act 2003 does not stipulate a geographical 'zone of influence' within which local residents may object to applications. However, it would be difficult to argue that any old people's home could be affected by a club nearly a quarter of a mile away.

Granted, if there is already a suitable premises licence in place, or the club only has lap-dancing occasionally by way of temporary event notices, there is little that local residents can do to prevent a nightclub becoming a lap-dancing club. But they can curtail the club's activities if their initial fears prove to be correct.

As with all licensed premises, there remains the threat of a review application and if lap-dancing clubs do start offering illegal services, the licensing sub-committee can either revoke or suspend the premises licence upon review.

Increasing numbers​

The number of lap-dancing clubs has significantly increased in recent years and perhaps it is time for further 'checks and balances'.

However, contrary to what has been suggested in certain quarters of the press, obtaining a premises licence for a lap-dancing club is rarely as easy as obtaining one for a pub or karaoke bar.

If a club wishes to locate in a residential area it is almost inevitable that local residents will make representations. And licensing sub-committees are comprised of councillors who rely on votes to stay in office. With exposure in the press and vocal local opposition it takes brave local councillors to grant a premises licence for what will be a lap-dancing club.

It is important not to forget that, even without a change in the law, local residents and councils are far from 'toothless' in preventing the spread of lap-dancing clubs if they cause public nuisance, undertake or encourage criminal activity or adversely affect children.