Have your say on lap dancing club locations

That’s one of the questions Kirklees Council is asking after a government consultation said existing rules do not give communities sufficient powers to control the clubs.

Recent legislation reclassified lap dancing clubs as sexual entertainment venues instead of just entertainment venues, allowing the government to tighten up regulation. These powers are not compulsory and only apply where they have been adopted by the local authority.

So the council has launched a questionnaire which asks where sexual entertainment venues (SEV) should and shouldn’t be located, how many should be in certain locations and what kind of buildings they should be allowed to operate near.

The council can use its policy to set a number of licensed SEVs which is appropriate for a certain area, which could be zero.

A row erupted the last time a lap dancing club was set up in Dewsbury.
A petition against Forbidden was signed by around 300 people after it was started by former MP Shahid Malik – but the venue, in Bradford Road, opened anyway.
Mr Malik claimed the club, which offered lap dancing, pole dancing and private dancing in booths, would make Dewsbury “a magnet for the sex industry”.
Forbidden, which was based at the former Green’s Nite Scene club, has since closed down.

Have your say by visiting www2.kirklees.gov.uk/involve/entry.aspx?id=714 or people can ring the licensing department on 01484 4568687 for details to be sent by post. The closing date is Friday January 12, 2015.