The future of Chester’s only lap dancing club hangs in the balance.
Councillors on the city’s licensing committee have retired to consider whether to renew the Platinum Lounge’s sex establishment licence so it can continue operating from Bridge Street Row.
Supporters claim a well-run club is the victim of a moral crusade backed by a small residents’ group, the Bishop of Chester and 'spear-headed' by new Labour council leader Samantha Dixon.
Opponents portray a seedy picture of cocaine use, dancers stepping over the line in their conduct and noise nuisance.
They argue its location, near an increasingly residential area and in the historic core, is simply the 'wrong place'.
Barrister Gary Grant, for applicants Bridgerow Ltd, told a packed meeting at Cheshire West and Chester Council’s HQ the large number of objectors had been stirred up, threatening the business and its 30 employees.
'Municipal censorship'
He said: “There are many loud and powerful voices in this extraordinary case who ideally would like to return Chester to the idyllic pre-1963 mores and worlds.
“Back to a world where the pursuit of human fun was shackled by a tutting society, where people were taught to be ashamed of anything involving the naked human form.”
Mr Grant, who described the anti-campaign as 'municipal censorship', argued the predominantly commercial location was appropriate for the nine-year-old business which generated much lower levels of crime and disorder compared with alcohol-led premises. Chester’s competitor city York had two lap dancing clubs.
He added: “You will hear a great deal of learned argument, pretending that this case is nothing to do with morality. There’s a reason for that and that reason is morality is the one thing you cannot take into account.”
Mr Grant claimed it was for this reason that opponents would strain to suggest the venue was generating problems but none of the claims bore scrutiny.
And he argued the general view of most Cestrians was 'live and let live'. He suggested many would say: “Do we really want Chester to be the city that announces itself to be overwhelmed by the mere prospect of breasts being displayed behind closed doors and only to consenting adults?”
Discreet
The meeting heard from next door neighbours Avis Davies and Victoria Strefford who felt safer because of the presence of Platinum Lounge door security with tales of addicts openly injecting on the Rows. Both described the club as discreet with many people being unaware of its existence.
Frank Marnell, landlord of the Watergate Inn, who is also chair of Pubwatch and secretary of the Licensed Victuallers Association, described the management of Platinum Lounge as 'very very professional'.
One of the club’s dancers, who confirmed the girls retained 70% of whatever they earned, said the job paid her bills including bringing up her son. “If I lose it I will be in a very sticky situation,” she said.
Her colleague said rules governing dancers’ conduct were 'very strict'. She felt safe in the environment and relied on the income to pay her mortgage. Asked by Cllr Brian Jones about the fact the club did not pay a retainer of any sort, she responded:
“Like any self-employed job, if you don’t work, you don’t earn money.”
But evidence was submitted from White Friars Residents’ Association (WFRA) who alleged their covert investigators uncovered licence breaches. They made claims over security staff not wearing badges, about traces of cocaine in the toilets, failure to manage noise from a smoking area and a dancer simulating a sex act.
Their representative Philip Kolvin QC told the meeting that 2009 legislation meant communities now had more say in where such sexual entertainment venues should be located. What Mr Grant had dubbed an 'extraordinary campaign', he called 'the working of democracy'.
Addressing councillors, he said: “This is a simple case about whether a lap dancing club should go here, in this place, that’s what the case is about.”
He highlighted the growth of housing in the neighbourhood and the council’s policy that 'applications will not normally be granted near residential accommodation'.
It was only last July that CWaC granted a six month licence to the Platinum Lounge following legal wrangles which followed an earlier decision to reject the application.
But Mr Kolvin pointed out that this year’s committee was entitled to come to an opposite conclusion to last year’s committee even where nothing had changed: “The courts have said that you can respond to a body of feeling in the locality, merely the fact that a number of people are concerned about this justifies refusal.”
Not the right place
Council leader Samantha Dixon said she was attending to represent her constituents at their request and asked members to apply council policy by refusing the application.
She said: “Along with so many others I don’t believe that Chester’s historic city centre and specifically our unique Rows are the right place for a sex venue. Secondly, I believe the venue is too close to residential homes.”
Vice Dean Canon Peter Howell-Jones had not read the Bishop of Chester’s comments but said the cathedral’s objections were not on moral grounds.
He said: “The importance of tourism is critical for this city and family tourism is critical as well. We need to find ways to develop that in the historic heart of this city. For me and for the cathedral, we are simply arguing we think this is in the wrong place.”
John Herson, vice chairman of Chester Civic Trust, said his organisation felt a sex venue was inappropriate in this locality.
He added: “It’s the historic core of this world-renowned heritage, retail and tourist city.”
The licensing committee has retired to deliberate. CWaC policy recommends providing a written decision within seven working days.
