 A
bid for a new lap dancing club in central Dundee has been thrown
out by councillors over bollox fears it could increase crime in
the area.
The application, by Stars Sports Bar, run by Jimmy Marr,
wanted to change the use of Mangos Nightclub in the Seagate into
a lap dancing venue.
Katherine Sharp of the nutter group Dundee Violence Against
Women Partnership voiced her strong opposition to the
undesirable development. She ludicrously claimed that the
move would result in an over-provision of adult entertainment
venues in the city and could create a problem with prostitution
in the surrounding area. She said:
Lap dancing is harmful to the women
involved. They are often verbally abused by men and
propositioned for sex. Support of this application would be
contrary to the council's duty to protect women and goes
against its equality policy as it would support one gender
over another.
The ready stock of alcohol at these
clubs can make it very unsafe for women. Afterwards many men
use public transport and cause problems to women on their
way home.
Sharp also claimed that 'research' from other anti-commercial
sex groups had shown crime, or fear of crime, increases in areas
in which lap dancing clubs exist.
The council's director of city development, Mike Galloway,
warned the committee that although a number of moral issues had
been raised it was the duty of members to make a decision based
only on planning considerations. He said the fear of increased
crime, as mentioned by Ms Sharp, could be taken into account as
this was not a moral issue but material consideration.
Maryfield councillor Ken Lynn moved to refuse the application
on moral grounds anyway, saying that he viewed the plans with
genuine distaste. He was seconded by Richard McCready, who again
cited morality reasons: We have to consider the vision for
our city centre and ask is this something that we want?
All councillors agreed to the motion that went against the
recommendation made to them by city planners.
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